


Across the Stars: A She-Ra Story

by OppositionAgent



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Crimson Dawn Huntara (She-Ra), Droid Swiftwind (She-Ra), F/F, F/M, Force-Sensitive Perfuma (She-Ra), Inquisitor Catra (She-Ra), Jedi Adora (She-Ra), Jedi Mara (She-Ra), Lightsaber Duels, Mandalorian Bow (She-Ra), Minor Character Death, Moff Hordak (She-Ra), Piracy, She-Ra characters in the Star Wars universe, Space Battles, Star Wars AU, Stormtrooper Scorpia (She-Ra), Theft, Twi'lek Entrapta (She-Ra), gunfights, rebel Frosta (She-Ra), rebel Mermista (She-Ra), rebel Perfuma (She-Ra), rebel Sea Hawk (She-Ra), spice running
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:08:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 19
Words: 48,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27956660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OppositionAgent/pseuds/OppositionAgent
Summary: Seven years after Order 66, Jedi in exile Adora Gray must come to terms with what has happened to her as she travels throughout the galaxy and avoids the pursuit of the Empire.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 89
Kudos: 136





	1. The Delivery

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This is the first fic I've ever posted, so I hope you all like it. My friend helped with a lot of the editing, so I want to give them an anonymous shout-out.
> 
> Updates every Tuesday!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven years after the events of the Clone Wars,  
> Jedi in exile Adora Gray finds herself joining  
> a crew of spice runners known as the Best  
> Friend Squad.  
> This team comprises of Glimmer Moon, a  
> disgraced princess, Bow Archer, an ex-  
> Mandalorian commando, and Entrapta, a  
> sparky, Twi’lek starship mechanic.  
> Aboard their freighter, Darla, this team  
> prepares to deliver spice to Dryden Vos,  
> leader of Crimson Dawn, at a secret  
> rendezvous on the planet Onderon....

Darla was acting up, again. This was especially dangerous because they were currently traveling through hyperspace and blowing up was not on Adora’s priority list. 

“Entrapta! Check the radiator!” she yelled.

“On it!” the purple Twi’lek replied, scampering off into the belly of the old ship.

“Why’s the beeping going off?” Glimmer called from down the narrow corridor.

“I don’t know,” said Adora. “Entrapta’s checking the radiator, I’m going to check the hyperdrive module.”

When she opened the wall panel, she knew immediately what was wrong, the question was if she was able to fix it. A small wire had fallen out in the very back of the compartment, and no one on the ship’s arms were long enough to reach back there. Adora tried anyway, but quickly gave up.

“Did you find the problem?” Entrapta called from below.

“Yeah,” Adora called back. “I think I got it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep!” Adora closed her eyes, concentrating. It’s not like she wasn’t able to use the force, but her years of exile had made it increasingly difficult to practice. She stuck her arm into the compartment, nowhere near reaching the wire. She took a deep breath. The wire remained still.

“It’s still beeping!” Glimmer yelled.

“I’m coming up there!” Entrapta called.

“I. Got. It!” Adora took another deep breath, she just had to focus. She could almost feel the energy flowing out from her fingertips. She could hear Entrapta’s steps coming closer, any moment now. 

The wire snapped into place.

The beeping stopped.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. 

“Oh, you did have it!” Entrapta remarked, just getting to the panel.

“Was there ever any doubt?” Adora asked, pulling her arm out of the compartment and shutting it.

“Yes, yes there was,” Entrapta answered.

“It was a rhetorical question,”

Adora had not told any of her crewmantes that she was force sensitive, let alone a Jedi in exile. After the rise of the empire, the Jedi had been named traitors and hunted down by ruthless inquisitors. Adora shuttered to think about what her crewmates would do if they found anything out. Turn her in? Receive their reward and never have to smuggle for Crimson Dawn again? The thought of their betrayal scared her, not that Jedi were supposed to fear.

Was she still a Jedi?

She walked back to the cockpit with both Entrapta and these thoughts. 

“Bow! Bow! Bow!” Glimmer was lightly slapping the sleeping Mandalorian’s shoulder.

“What? I’m awake!” Bow shot up suddenly in the captain’s chair. “What happened?”

“What happened was that we almost blew up and you slept through the entire thing!” Glimmer yelled. "Don't worry, we fixed it."

“Yeah, no thanks to you,” Adora said as she walked through the doorway. “How much time until we get there?”

“Uh,” Bow adjusted himself in his chair and looked down at one of the screens on the dashboard. “Looks like just another few hours, enough for everyone to get some sleep.”

“Not like you’ll need it,” Glimmer muttered.

“Well, _I’m_ going to get some rest,” Adora turned and left for her room. ‘ _That was too close_ ’ she thought as the door slid shut behind her. Her room was a small, rectangular space, containing only her bed, a dresser and desk. She flopped onto her bed and looked at the items on top of her dresser, her lightsaber and a recovered Jedi holocron. 

Her lightsaber hadn’t been used in years, not since the day of Order 66 and Operation: Knightfall. The holocron had been recovered a few years after that, before she had met Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta, and after… She tried not to think about that.

 _Attachments were forbidden_.

* * *

A few hours later, Adora woke up to the sound of Glimmer banging on her door.

“Wake up!” Glimmer shouted. “We’re here!”

“I’m coming!” Adora shouted back.

She walked into the cockpit, Bow was already getting the landing cycle started.

“Onderon Air Control, this is XS freighter ‘Darla’, requesting permission to land at Iziz,” he said.

“XS freighter ‘Darla’, this is Onderon Air Control, you are approved to land at Iziz, go to landing pad 7,” came a voice from the dashboard. 

“Glimmer, can contact Dryden and tell him we’ll be at pad 7?” Bow asked. “I gotta land Darla real smooth, these Onderon hangers are really small.”

“Yep,” Glimmer headed out of the cockpit.

“Entrapta and I can take the spice down,” Adora volunteered. 

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Bow said absentmindedly. 

“Keep flying, buddy,” Adora patted Bow on the shoulder and left the cockpit too. 

* * *

Once they had landed, Adora opened the cargo bay doors and the full blast of Onderon’s arid climate hit her in the face. She and Entrapta pushed the boxes out onto the landing pad. A man in fancy, blue robes flanked by two guards in exquisite black uniforms walked forward to greet them, this was Dryden Vos. Bow stepped up dressed in his white and gold Mandalorian armor. Bow tried his best to intimidate people they came across in their trade, but he clearly hated it.

“How’s my favorite spice team doing?” Vos asked, arms outstretched as if for a hug.

“We just need the credits and then we’ll be on our way, Dryden,” Bow replied, his helmet making his voice at least somewhat intimidating. Adora knew he hated doing this, Bow is the least-Mandalorian Mandalorian ever. The only reason he even had the armor was because he signed up to fight when the Empire staged a coup against Bo-Katan. But they really couldn’t afford to spend any more time with Dryden Vos than they absolutely needed to. He was just too dangerous.

“Relax, bow!” Vos laughed. “You and your friends will have your nine thousand credits and then you’ll be on your way!”

“But you said before this we’d get ten thousand, and this shipment is worth at least twelve!” Bow protested.

“Late fees!” Vos replied merrily. “And if you keep arguing, I’ll lower it to eight.”

There was no point in arguing, they had already lost. None of them were really good enough to fight Vos’s armed guards, even Bow. Vos transferred the credits to Bow’s account and they all headed back inside the ship. 

* * *

“Well, at least it’s going to cover food and fuel for the week,” Adora said, sitting down in the booth of the holochess table. “Wanna get a game Bow? Entrapta?” 

“No thanks, Adora,” Bow answered. “I’m going to find us another job." 

“I’ll play,” Entrapta said, sitting in the chair across from Adora. Entrapta was the only member of the crew who ever actually played her. 

Adora booted up the game and they began to play. Holochess had always been a favorite of Adora’s. When she was a youngling, they would use it as a training exercise in force precognition. She got really into it and not only mastered the precognitive abilities, but also the strategy of the game as well. She began to be able to predict her opponent’s moves, even without the force guiding her. When she joined the crew, she quickly became the chessmaster, even against L-1TE, their old protocol droid. 

Adora had just beaten Entrapta for the fifth time in a row, when there came another loud beeping, but this time, not from impending doom. 

“Emily, no!” Entrapta lept from her seat, probably eager to get an excuse to leave the table. Emily was Entrapta’s light-green astromech droid, and it had been made very clear that they were specifically Entrapta’s. Emily was the first thing Entrapta had ever built, and she had been constantly upgrading them since. 

“Entrapta, shut your droid up,” Glimmer walked in from the hallway. “If I wanted an alarm clock, I’d get an alarm clock.”

“Were you sleeping during the delivery?” Adora asked. “Weren’t you the one that woke me up?”

“A girl needs her beauty rest,” Glimmer replied.

“Glimmer, you’re a spice runner, not a princess,” Adora said. 

In truth, Glimmer was a princess, or, at least, had been. Her parents were king and queen of one of the thousands of planets in the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. When the war ended, they were thrown into an Imperial labor camp, along with many other serpatist leaders spared from the wrath of Darth Vader. 

“Good news, guys!” Bow said cheerfully. “Dryden got us another gig!”

“Oh great,” Glimmer mumbled. “More spice.”

“No, not more spice!” Bow corrected. “Dryden hired us as bodyguards for his next auction on Garel! 30,000 credits each!”

“Woah,” Adora sat up in the booth. “That’s some serious money. What's the catch?”

“Well, it appears that it’s in a heavily occupied city,” collective groaning came from Adora, Glimmer and Entrapta. “But we won’t have to work for a few months _and_ he says that the Empire has no reason to believe that he’s doing it.”

“That’s what you said last time we did something like this,” Glimmer complained. “We ended up with huge bounties on our heads. We were lucky they didn’t have any good pictures of us.”

“It’s going to be fine this time,” Bow assured her. “If it’s not-”

“We’re all dead,” Adora interrupted. “What? Too dark? Sorry, it’s just... nevermind. I’m in.”

"I'm in too!" Entrapta shouted.

“Fine, I’ll do it,” Glimmer groaned.

“Best friend squad!” Bow pumped his fist. 

“How were you ever a Mandalorian?” Glimmer asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 1, I know it's kinda short, but I have a lot of stuff planned, so subscribe if you want to see that. I tried to put some pictures here for some more obscure Star Wars stuff, but I couldn't figure out how to do it. So, I'm putting in links to some Wookieepedia articles. (It's just some pictures).  
> XS freighter (what Darla is):  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/XS_stock_light_freighter/Legends?file=XS_stock_light_freighter.png  
> Dryden Vos:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dryden_Vos?file=Dryden_Vos_HS.png  
> Onderon:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Onderon?file=OnderonTVE.png  
> Dryden Vos's guards:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Hylobon_Enforcers?file=Hylobon_Enforcers.png  
> 


	2. The Soldiers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being hired by Dryden Vos, the  
> Best Friend Squad prepares to protect  
> an art auction on the planet Garel.  
> Unbeknownst to them, the nefarious  
> Empire prepares to thwart any illegal  
> activity taking place that night...

The day came of the job, and Adora’s enthusiasm quickly fell. First, all of them were forced to wear the Crimson Dawn’s one-size-fits-all uniforms. So Entrapta, who was about half her height, was wearing one the same size as Adora. Second, they had been stationed at the entrances, the worst place to be for guards. 

The only good thing about it was that it was looking to be an uneventful night. Crimson Dawn’s soldiers had a reputation of being highly-trained, so all stormtrooper patrols, if any, would likely pass them by.

* * *

Adora was with Entrapta, stationed outside the back entrance to the ballroom, just waiting for the auction to end. The smoky-purple night sky dimly illuminated the dark city-streets. She could faintly hear the cheers coming from the crowd inside, it seemed that they were having a much better night than she was. 

“Hey,” Entapta whispered, startling Adora. “Why do you think Vos hired us for this? Doesn’t he already have enough guards?”

“I don’t know,” Adora whispered back. “The night’s almost over, can we just try to get this over with?”

“Alright,”

But the question stuck with her. _Why did Vos hire them?_ Surely he had enough guards, even if he didn’t, there had to be better people for the job.

Unless he wasn’t willing to risk them. There was definitely a risk, probably a big one.

“Entrapta!” Adora whispered. “We need to get out of here!”

“What?” she whispered back. “I thought you said we needed to stay!”

“Well that changed,” Adora replied. “Vos is sacrificing us!”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, he hired us because we were the most expendable! He knew that the Empire was coming here!”

As if on cue, A squad of stormtroopers rounded the corner about 20 meters away. While there was nothing necessarily illegal with having private guards, but they were guarding an event hosted by a notorious crime gang, this couldn’t be a coincidence. 

“They’ll just pass us by,” Adora whispered, mainly to herself.

They were sitting ducks, if the stormtroopers decided that they were easy enough prey, they didn’t stand a chance. But the stormtroopers didn’t shoot, instead, they walked up to Adora and Entrapta. 

“We are requesting entrance to this establishment under suspicion of criminal activity,” the one in front said. 

“I’m sorry,” Adora said as calmly as she could. “But this is a private event, no one is allowed in without an invitation.”

“We have a warrant from Moff Hordak himself, so let us in or take it up with him,” the stormtrooper replied.

Adora should’ve known that wouldn’t work, but you never knew with Imperial soldiers. He lifted her hand. “There is no criminal activity in this establishment,” she said, waving it. She put all the power she could muster into her voice. 

“There… is no criminal activity at this establishment,” the trooper repeated.

“You will be leaving now,” Adora waved her hand again.

“We… we will be leaving now,” the trooper said, he waved to his company. “Let’s go.”

Entrapta just watched in awe as they walked away. Even Adora was impressed with herself.

“How did you do that?” Entrapta asked.

“What can I say? I can be very convincing,” Adora answered. That was the first time she’d succeeded at it. The only other time she had attempted was when recovering the holocron, and that had nearly ended with her getting thrown out of a window.

The stormtroopers rounded the next corner, onto the main street. 

“Wait, isn’t that where Glimmer and Bow are?” Entrapta asked.

“Uh, yes,” Adora got a sinking feeling in her stomach. She had gotten the troopers off her back only to send them off to her friends. “We have to go help them.”

“But I thought you said-”

“I know what I said!” she shouted. “Let’s go!”

They ran up the block to the corner. Glimmer, Bow and a few other guards were in a shootout with two squads of stormtroopers at the grand entrance. Their friends and some other guards had been pinned to the walls to avoid the blaster fire, and could only fire sparsely while the stormtroopers blasted away at their cover. 

Adora rounded the corner and fired a few shots, taking down a stormtrooper before ducking back behind for cover.

“Look! There’s two more over there!” one of them shouted. 

Adora and Entrapta kept firing from around the corner, Adora taking down most of the remaining troopers. Unfortunately, one of them managed to call for backup before taking a blaster bolt to the chest. 

Bow and Glimmer peeked out from the sizzling metal scrap they were hiding behind. 

“Adora? Entrapta?” Glimmer called.

“I'm so glad you came!” Bow shouted.

“Enough chit-chat!” one of the other guards said. “There’s going to be a lot more coming so we’d better get inside!”

“Right!” 

They all bolted inside, Bow and another guard carrying a wounded one. 

* * *

“What is the meaning of this?” Vos’s captain walked up to them. “Did I not tell all of you to remain at your posts?”

“Sorry, sir,” Adora spoke up. “But we got ambushed by a squad of Imperials, and one of them called for backup.”

“Well, then we better set up a good defense to hold them off,” he replied. “You,” he pointed at one of the other guards. “Help me get him,” he gestured to the injured guard. “And the guests out. The rest of you,” there were only about six of them left, including Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta. “Hold them off as long as you can.”

“Yes sir,” everyone said in unison. The captain and the guard he’d chosen ran off into the ballroom.

“Alright everyone,” Adora said. “The line of doors-”

“They’re here!” Entrapta shouted.

Indeed they were. About three transports, filled with about ten stormtroopers each, had pulled up in front of the building. The soldiers had formed a line, spanning the width of the entrance.

“We’re going to die!” one of the guards cried.

“No we’re not!” Adora shouted. “We have cover and they don’t. That gives us an advantage. If we open every other door, we can stand behind them and pick them off from inside.”

“That’s… not a bad plan, actually,” another guard remarked.

“Let’s do it!” Bow remarked.

All of them each opened a door and began to fire out into the crowd of white armor. The stormtroopers returned fire and the firefight began.

The stormtroopers started taking heavy casualties at first, standing shoulder-to-shoulder made it much easier to hit one of them. But the overwhelming fire eventually made it too hard to get an opening. 

“ARGH!” Glimmer shouted, firing ten consecutive shots, missing all of them. “Why can’t I hit anything?” One of the stormtroopers fired and hit her in the shoulder. She screamed and fell back onto the floor.

“Glimmer!” Bow shouted, starting to move over to her

“Bow, stay where you are!” Adora yelled at him. “Just keep firing.”

But the troopers had them pinned down. Then, all at once, they stopped. 

“What?” Entrapta exclaimed.

A fourth transport came in, carrying only two passengers; a stormtrooper captain and a slender woman dressed fully in black.

She stepped out of the transport and Adora got a good look at her. Her outfit was skin-tight, full body down to her tail and all black except for a white imperial signet on her right breast. Her helmet completely covered her face, almost resembling that of Vader himself. This was an inquisitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 2! Here are some more Wookieepedia articles (Links to pictures).  
> Garel:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Garel?file=Garel.png  
> The inquisitor's outfit was based on the Seventh Sister:  
> https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Seventh_Sister?file=Seventh_Sister.png


	3. The Inquisitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After having the grand ballroom surrounded,  
> Catra, inquisitor of the Empire, prepares  
> to kidnap her next target, Dryden Vos,  
> nefarious leader of Crimson Dawn.  
> Unbeknownst to her, she will have to face  
> someone she would rather have forgotten...

Today was Catra’s most eventful day in years. Her division had been dealing with Crimson Dawn for the entire time she was heading it, but nothing until now had ever warranted her direct involvement. 

Her job as an inquisitor was to hunt down the most notorious criminals in the Empire, especially Jedi, and today had given her that. Dryden Vos was here, and she was going to catch him. 

She stepped down from the transport. 

“Should I stay here or should I pick you up later, commander?” Scorpia asked.

“Stay,” Catra replied. “Thank you, captain.”

Catra stepped over the body of a fallen soldier on her way to the entrance. _Such a waste_. “Followers of Crimson Dawn,” she shouted. “I have not come for your lives, so don’t waste them. I want your master, Dryden Vos. Bring him to me and you will be forgiven by your Empire.”

Apparently, one of the guards misunderstood her, and he attempted to fire at her. She quickly ignited her double-bladed lightsaber, spinning it. The blast deflected perfectly and hit the guard square in the chest. He toppled and fell down through the doorway and down onto the steps. 

Catra shook her head. _Such a waste_. 

\---

“Is there not one among you who will serve your empire?” the inquisitor asked.

‘ _We’re screwed,_ ’ Adora thought. ‘ _No one can beat an inquisitor. No one except… maybe…_ ’ Adora began to fumble with her uniform, trying to get the thick, black poncho off of her. 

“It would be a true shame if you did not,” the inquisitor continued. Adora stood, she had thrown off the poncho and was now just down to the white button-up shirt. 

_What are you doing?_ Bow mouthed at her.

 _I don’t know,_ she mouthed back.

“If you do not bring your master to me,” the inquisitor drawled. It was now or never. “I will have no choice but to-”

“Enough,” Adora stepped into the doorway. 

“Adora!” Bow whispered. “What are you doing?”

“Ah” the inquisitor said, clearly surprised. “Have you come to serve your Empire, young lady?”

“Not exactly,” Adora replied. 

The inquisitor raised her still-ignited lightsaber. “Choose your next move very carefully,”

“If it’s a fight you want,” Adora reached to her waist. _What the hell was she doing?_ She pulled out her lightsaber, holding it above her head, and ignited it in front of everyone, the bright green blade illuminating her face. “You can have it.”

\---

Catra’s troops raised their basters to the Jedi. 

“Hold your fire,” Catra said, raising her fist. “I’ll deal with this myself.”

The soldiers slowly lowered their weapons. 

“That confident, huh?” the Jedi asked. They both began to circle. 

Catra only hissed and flicked her tail. There was something familiar about this Jedi.

The Jedi twirled her lightsaber into position above her head and stretched out her other arm, pointing two fingers at Catra. _From III, could it really be her? Was that even possible?_ “Why don’t you come get me, then.” 

Catra obliged. She charged at the Jedi, blades spinning on their track. The Jedi was forced to sidestep to avoid getting a face full of red plasma. Catra turned back to face her, blades spinning frantically. The Jedi took a few uneasy steps back, Catra charged again. She swung in for a downward strike and the Jedi’s blade came to meet hers. 

Strike, parry, strike, parry. They fell into a rhythm, endlessly trying and failing to even get a nick on their opponent. 

Catra had the advantage. Her two blades to the Jedi’s one was a distinct sign that she had the upper hand, and Catra had always excelled at dueling. Her training under Vader had only honed that skill.

But the Jedi seemed to hold her ground. Her movements were fluid and graceful, and she was fast too. No matter how quickly Catra swung her blade, the Jedi seemed to move before she did, almost as if she knew Catra’s next move. Catra had never been known for her precognitive ability. 

Then, as their sabers locked just a little longer than usual, yellow sparks were sent flying. The Jedi managed to sneak in a force push against Catra, sending her flying into the wall of the arched gateway. She fell to the ground and her lightsaber retracted. 

“ARGH!” Catra yelled. “Fire!” 

Her troops started blasting and the Jedi was forced to flee back inside, not that Catra had expected her to fall from her soldiers.

Scorpia rushed over to help Catra up. “Are you all right, commander?” she asked.

“I’m fine, captain,” Catra replied. “Except for maybe my tail.”

“Are we continuing through the building, commander?” the captain asked.

“Yes, but forget Vos, we have a new target,” Catra ordered. “The Jedi.”

\---

Adora rushed back inside the building. “Bow! Grab Glimmer, we have to go, now!” she shouted.

“Adora, what-?” Bow started, grabbing glimmer’s injured shoulder

“Not now!” she interrupted. She grabbed Glimmer’s other shoulder “Entrapta! Come one!”

“Adora, I don’t understand-” Entrapta replied. 

“I’ll explain later! We need to go!”

Stormtroopers began flooding through the open doorways, blasters raised for combat.

“Get behind me!” Adora shouted and ignited her lightsaber again. 

Entrapta had just gotten behind Ardora, helping Bow with the now unconscious Glimmer, when one of the troopers shouted “blast them!”

Red light came from everywhere. Adora twirled her lightsaber frantically, spinning it in a wide circle. She was barely able to deflect the fire and none of it was reflected back.

Slowly, Bow and Entrapta dragged Glimmer backward. After they had retreated behind another set of doors, the entrance to the grand ballroom. Adora force pulled several tables as a barricade. 

“That should hold them off long enough,” Adora sighed. More blaster fire came from the other side. “Or maybe not.”

“Adora, what is going on?” Bow asked. “What was that?”

“Not now! Once we get to the ship, I’ll explain everything!” Adora shouted. “Now come on!” 

More blaster fire came from outside and the inquisitor’s red blade cut through the barricade. Adora quickly threw a few more tables at the doors. 

Entrapta and Bow carried Glimmer out through the back hallway. Adora stayed in front of them until the very last moment before the inquisitor had finished cutting through the tables. 

\---

Catra cut her way through the mess of tables the Jedi had hastily thrown at the wall. The grand ballroom was completely empty. Vos and his guests had cleared out, so too had the Jedi. 

“Shall we search the area, commander?” Scorpia asked. 

“No, captain,” Catra answered. “But I want every non-military ship grounded, we are not letting Vos or the Jedi escape.”

“Yes, commander,” 

\---

Once they were aboard Darla, Bow and Entrapta rushed into the cockpit and Adora went to get medical supplies.

“L-1!” she called. “Get Glimmer on some pain-killers! She’s got a nasty blaster wound!”

“Yes, master Adora,” the light-blue protocol droid responded, and walked over to Glimmer’s room where Bow had put her. She was unconscious, lying on her bed.

Adora headed over the refresher, where she was pretty sure that that was where Bow kept the supplies. She opened the cabinet, grabbed some bandages and ointment and rushed over to Glimmer’s room, where she was beginning to come to. 

“Adora, what happened?” Glimmer mumbled.

“You passed out,” Adora said frantically, pouring ointment onto Glimmer’s open wound.

“Agh!” Glimmer cried.

“Sorry!” Adora quickly wrapped the bandages around Glimmer’s shoulder. “Is that better?”

“A little,” Glimmer said. 

“Here, take this sling,” L-1TE lifted their arm, revealing a piece of white cloth. “You will need it to rest your arm for a few days.”

“Thanks,” Glimmer put her arm into the fold and wrapped the strap around her opposite shoulder. 

There was a loud explosion and the ship lurched forward, Glimmer was flung off the bed and both Adora and L-1TE were knocked to the ground. Adora could hear a loud roaring sound.

**SHIELDS AT 73% CAPACITY**

“What was that?” Glimmer shouted.

“I don’t know,” Adora quickly got to her feet. “You stay here, I’ll see what’s up.”

She ran to the cockpit, where Bow was desperately trying to maneuver the ship away from the tall buildings that surrounded them.

“What happened?” Adora asked breathlessly.

“Someone’s shooting at us!” Entrapta cackled. “Actually, we know who it is, the Empire sent three TIE fighters to shoot us down! Strap in!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you liked chapter 3. I have no more Wookieepedia articles for you to look at, so there's that!


	4. The Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After surviving a duel with an inquisitor,  
> Jedi in exile Adora Gray makes her  
> escape with the rest of The Best Friend  
> Squad while being pursued by three TIE  
> Fighters across the cityscapes of the  
> planet Garel...

Adora was officially having the third-worst day of her life. She strapped herself into the third seat of the cockpit. “So, we currently have three TIE fighters chasing us while Glimmer is stuck in bed with a bad arm?” she asked incredulously. 

“Yep!” Entrapta screamed with excitement. 

“Great…” Adora’s voice trailed off. “I’ll go to operate the cannon.” 

“Yes, please!” Bow yelled.

Adora unbuckled herself and climbed into the rotating chair of the mounted turret in the middle of the ship. The mechanism was very outdated and could be a bit over-sensitive during turning. She spun the turret so it was facing the back and the TIE fighters. There were three alright, three deadly, armed-to-the-teeth machines of war chasing them across the Garel cityscape. 

“We just need to get out of their airspace and then we can leave the atmosphere!” Bow called from the cockpit. 

“Got it!” Adora focused on the viewscreen in front of her. The TIEs had lined up, side-by-side, just like the stormtroopers from the Ballroom. Adora pulled the trigger several times. One of the blasts hit the left fighter on the wing, causing it to spiral and crash onto the roof of an apartment block down below. “One down!”

Unfortunately, the other two fighters returned fire. Darla lurched forward again. 

**SHIELDS AT 38% CAPACITY**

They reached the edge of the city, the sprawling grey turning to green. 

“I think we’re out of the airspace!” Bow called. “I’m going to start the ascent!”

Adora fired a few more times, all of the missed. “C’mon Adora!” she scolded herself. “Concentrate!” 

A few more shots, one of them grazing the center fighter’s cabin. Fire and smoke began to spew from the ship.

Bow’s incline was getting steadily steeper, all three ships were nearly stacked vertically. 

Adora fired again, she grazed the closest ship again. Another glazing shot, more smoke. She couldn’t even see the other TIE.

 _Concentrate_.

Adora closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and another, and another.

“Are you going to shoot, or what?” Glimmer called from her room. 

“I’m working on it!” Adora called back, another breath. She opened her eyes and took a shot.

It was a direct hit. 

The shot went directly into the TIE’s cockpit, killing the pilot and causing it to fall right into the other fighter in a massive explosion.

“Whoo!” Adora yelled.

She reached the cockpit just as they exited the atmosphere. 

**HYPERSPACE CALCULATIONS COMPLETE**

Bow pulled the lever. The stars stretched into lines, and space wrapped itself around them as they burst into the void of hyperspace.

Adora turned to leave. “Not so fast,” Bow said. “Explain.”

* * *

Once the entire crew, including L-1TE and Emily, had settled down in the main room, Adora began to explain, but found she couldn’t. “I don’t know how to say this,” she began. “But, uh… well, before I met you guys, I was… well, uh, a Jedi.”

The room fell deadly silent before Entrapta spoke up. “Wow! That’s crazy!” she shouted. “Is that how you pushed that inquisitor into the wall without touching her?”

“Uh… yes,” Adora swallowed. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but this certainly wasn’t it. 

“Entrapta, calm down,” Glimmer put a hand on Entrapta’s shoulder. “Adora’s just told us something really important, can you not turn it onto one of your science experiments?”

“No, it’s fine,” Adora looked at the floor. “It’s okay if you want me to leave or-”

“Why would we want that?” Bow asked.

“Well, I thought-” Adora started.

“Well, you thought wrong,” Bow cut her off. “I get why you didn’t want to tell us, you were scared.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Adora snapped. “I’m not supposed to feel fear.”

“Hey,” Bow said. “I’m saying it’s fine that you didn’t tell us and we get why you kept it a secret. That’s how I felt when Lady Katan lost the war for Mandalore.”

“Thanks, Bow,” Adora felt her eyes starting to water.

“How do you think I felt when my parents were thrown into that labor camp? We’re all Imperial traitors here!” Glimmer laughed, and then stopped. “Sorry, that was…” 

“No, it’s fine,” Adora was crying now, tears flowing freely down her face.

“Aw, someone needs a hug!” Bow stood up, his arms opened wide. He wrapped his arms around Adora, Glimmer and Entrapta did the same. 

“You guys are the best,” Adora choked through her tears.

“We’re the Best Friend squad,” Bow said. “We have to look out for each other.”

“Can I see your lightsaber?” Entrapta asked, her lekku curling. They tended to do that when she got excited. 

“No,” Anything Entrapta ‘saw’ or ‘borrowed’ always ended up in pieces.

“Aw,” Entrapta’s lekku uncurled themselves. 

“So why didn’t you tell us?” Bow asked, ending the hug.

“Well, uh, it’s actually kind of embarrassing,” Adora mumbled.

“Tell us,” Glimmer stated flatly.

“Well, I, uh, was,” Adora scratched the back of her head. “I was kind of scared that you would, uh… turn me in.”

“What!?” Bow shouted.

“Are you serious?” Glimmer yelled. “After everything we’ve been through?”

“I know, I know,” Adora said. “But it’s… well, I trusted someone once, and... that didn't end so well.” 

_Attachments are forbidden_. 

“Oh, well, I’m sorry you went through that,” said Bow, standing up. “We _won’t_ let that happen to you again.”

“Wait,” Entrapta shouted. “Am I the only one here who’s not officially an Imperial traitor?”

“Well, you’re a free Twi’lek, so close enough.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 4, I know it's kind of short compared to the others, but the next ones will be longer. I have many plans, so subscribe if you want to see that.


	5. The Pirates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After informing the rest of The Best  
> Friend Squad of her identity, Jedi  
> in exile Adora Gray can finally get  
> some rest after her last mission.  
> Unfortunately, the nefarious Dryden  
> Vos, leader of Crimson Dawn has  
> other plans....

“Dryden, you better have our credits,” Bow tried to sound as intimidating as possible over the holomessage, which wasn’t much, but at least he was trying his best.

“You are in no position to demand things, Bow,” Vos replied. “And the last job you and your crew did for me ended disastrously.”

“It’s not our fault the Empire showed up!” Glimmer shouted. “We barely made it out with our lives!”

“And you did that while a half-dozen of my elite guards met their end,” Vos said. “It’s remarkable, really. So remarkable that I might start to suspect that something is up.”

Adora, Glimmer and Bow all looked at each other. “No! We just got lucky!” Bow nervously exclaimed. Technically that was true, they were lucky Adora had brought her lightsaber with her, and still remembered enough to face down that inquisitor and survive. 

“Fine,” Vos sighed. “You can do one more job for me and then we can work something out. I’ll send you the details.”

“Wait-” Bow started, but Vos had already hung up. “Why do I get the feeling that that’s not going to be the last thing we do before we get paid?”

“You’re not the only one,” Adora said. A message popped up on one of the holoscreens. “It looks like we’re headed to Florrum, do you know anything about it?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Bow sighed. “We better get some sleep, it looks like we have a big day ahead, even if we do have a Jedi with us.”

* * *

Darla emerged out of hyperspace, giving the whole crew a large view of the sandy-brown planet. 

“XS freighter ‘Darla’, this is Ohnaka Air Control, state your business,” a gruff voice came from the dashboard.

“Ohnaka Air Control, this is XS freighter ‘Darla’, we are here to meet with Captain Hondo, requesting landing,” Bow replied.

It was a few seconds before the voice came back. “XS freighter ‘Darla’, this is Ohnaka Air Control, you are cleared for landing,” it said.

“Beginning the landing cycle,” Bow sighed.

Bow set the ship down in front of what looked like a refugee camp. There dozens of Weequay milling about, wandering in and out of poorly-constructed tents.

“I think I’ll stay on the ship,” Entrapta was crouching behind Emily.

“What, why?” Glimmer asked. 

“I’m not going out there!”

“Entrapta, seriously, what’s going on?” Adora walked over and squatted next to the cowering Twi’lek.

“You’ll see,”

“Fine,” Bow said. “You can stay on the ship, but no tinkering.”

“Agreed.” Entrapta shook bow’s hand. 

An older looking one wearing a long, red trench coat and a black cap walked up to Dalra as the cargo bay doors opened.

“Bow m’boy!” he exclaimed. “Back so soon? And I see you’ve brought friends!”

“Oh no, not this guy,” Adora’s face fell. “Do guys realize who this is?”

“Yeah, it’s Captain Hondo,” Glimmer answered. “Dryden sent us on a few jobs to him. What? Was he part of the Jedi purge or something?”

“Uh, no,” Adora responded. “It’s just that he got in a lot of trouble with the Jedi during the Clone Wars. I think he kidnapped some younglings at one point.”

“Oh, wow,”

“Yeah, anyway,” Adora said. “So, why’d he single out Bow?”

“I actually don’t know, something must’ve happened before I met him,”

Hondo put his arm around Bow. “Tell me, why have you come to visit old Hondo?” he asked. “Is it my birthday already?”

“Hondo, I don’t even know when your birthday is,” Bow answered. “We were sent by Dryden, didn’t he tell you?”

Hondo scratched his chin. “He might’ve said something about that, yes,” he said. “But you never come to visit me, so c’mon! We’re throwing a party! It’s my birthday!” He took his arm off Bow’s shoulder and walked off.

“I can see why he likes you,” Adora said. “He’s like an older, crazier, you.”

“Oh, trust me,” Bow replied. “He’s like that with everybody.”

“Really? How does he keep that up?” Adora asked.

“I don’t know,” Bow answered. “I think he’s constantly on some kind of spice. There was always some missing when I used to run it for him.”

“You ran spice for that guy?” Glimmer asked.

“Yeah, before I got picked up by Crimson Dawn,” 

“Are we really going to just  _ go _ to this guy’s birthday party?” Adora said.

“It’s better to just indulge him,” Bow replied. “Plus, he’s easier to bargain with when he’s drunk.”

* * *

Entrapta had been right to stay away from the party. Hondo had about a dozen Twi’lek dancers, a few of them flanking Hondo himself. 

The ‘party’ ended up being just a crowd of old Weequay men getting really drunk and doing stupid stuff. Beating each other over the head with empty, and sometimes not empty, bottles, gambling large sums of money over arm-wrestling matches and fighting each other over the clearly uninterested Twi’lek girls. It was a sight to behold. 

Adora walked over to the bar where Bow and Hondo were discussing the deal.

“My spice is the best around! Make sure Dryden puts in a little extra for old Hondo,” he exclaimed. 

“I’m sure we can arrange that,” Bow said. “So can you please get us the seven cases Dryden ordered?”

“Fine, if that’s all you care about,” Hondo sighed. He stood up. “Hey! You two!” he pointed out two Weequay stuck in an arm wrestling match. “Get them their order! And no sneaking any, you’re already high enough!”

The two quickly stood up and saluted Hondo. “Yes sir,” they said in unison. They snickered as they walked off. 

Glimmer walked over. “Hey, what’s up?” she said.

“Nothing else,” Bow replied. He turned to Hondo. “Unless you need anything else from us.”

“No,” Hondo let out an exaggerated sigh. “You may leave me on my birthday if you must.” 

Bow sighed as he stood up. “Thanks, Hondo,” he said. “I promise I’ll come next year.”

* * *

The walk back to the ship was oddly refreshing, Adora was just glad to be out of there, and was willing to bet a lot that her crewmates were too. 

The night sky of Florrum was beautiful, full of stars, unlike most worlds occupied by the Empire. No smoke, no fog. Adora liked finding new constellations on different worlds she visited, every picture was different and there was always something to find. Her mind continued to wander the entire walk to the ship. 

When they had reached Darla, they found that the two thugs Hondo had sent were ransacking the ship. 

“Hey!” Adora yelled. “What’s the big idea?”

All five people drew their blasters in quick succession. 

“Give up!” Glimmer shouted. “We have you outnumbered!” 

“We’re taking this ship for the Ohnaka Pirate Gang!” one of them shouted back. “And there’s nothing you can do to stop us!” He fired a shot at Bow, hitting him in the chest, but his beskar armor absorbed the blast. 

Glimmer fired a few shots at the shooter, but Bow stopped her. “No, not into my ship,” he said. 

The pirates ducked behind some crates and started firing at the group. 

“Scatter!” Adora yelled. She and Glimmer ducked behind a boulder, Bow ran behind another one next to them. 

“Adora, use your Jedi magic,” Glimmer said. 

“That’s not how it works,” Adora replied. “And I’m not going to reveal myself for these guys.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Bow asked. 

“You’re the one with the sniper rifle,” Glimmer answered. “You can shoot them!”

“I’m not shooting into my own ship!” Bow’s voice cracked.

“Guys!” Adora shouted. “Entrapta’s still on the ship!”

“Oh,  _ no _ ,” Glimmer and Bow groaned in unison. 

More lazer fire came from inside Darla, but not from either of the pirates. They both scrambled out of the ship as Entrapta emerged. She was riding on top of Emily, holding two blaster pistols and firing them frantically. Emily was holding a blaster too, but their shots were much more random and were leaving many burn marks all over the inside of the ship. Bow’s panic was only increasing.

“ _ Ahaha _ !” Entrapta shrieked. “Take that, you pirate jerks!”

Emily let out a few loud beeps of agreement. 

“Woah, woah, woah!” Hondo appeared out of nowhere. “What’s going on here?”

“Your ‘trusted underlings’ tried to take our ship and started shooting at us!” Glimmer yelled.

“Is that so?” Hondo asked. “You two! Get down here!” The pirates got up and walked down from the ship. “We don’t steal ships from our clients!” Hondo whipped out two blasters and shot his thugs. They fell to the ground, smoking holes burned into their chests. He turned back to the group, who were all still hiding behind the rocks. “Sorry about that, come again soon!”

“Is he serious?” Entrapta asked, hopping off of Emily. 

“Probably,” Bow responded. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I Hope you enjoyed chapter 5. I know it's kinda filler, but I really wanted to include Hondo, he's one of my favorite characters from the Clone Wars.  
> Shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this!  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post a lot there, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> Wookiepedia articles relating to this chapter (if you are interested):  
> [ Florrum ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Florrum?file=Florrum-BFR.png)  
> [ Hondo Ohnaka ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Hondo_Ohnaka/Legends?file=HondoHS-Revival.png)  
> [ Hondo's Salvage ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Hondo%27s_Salvage?file=Destroyed_Outpost.png)  
> (glad I finally figured out how links work on here)


	6. The Reports

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After failing to catch both Dryden Vos,  
> notorious leader of Crimson Dawn and  
> the mysteriously familiar Jedi, inquisitor  
> Catra returns to her star destroyer to  
> report to Moff Hordak...

No sooner had Catra returned to her quarters aboard her star destroyer, _The Rebuker_ , then did her communication device start ringing. She hit the answer button, and a hologram of a very pale man in uniform appeared. “What, Hordak?” she asked.

“That’s Moff Hordak to you, 12th Sister,” Hordak replied. “And judging by the apparent lack of Dryden Vos in our prison logs, it appears that you have failed, again.”

“Nice to see you too, _Moff Hordak_ ,” Catra rolled her eyes underneath her mask. “He got away again, so what? He always gets away.”

“I will not take any more of that tone from you, 12th Sister,” Hordak scolded. “Do you have anything besides failure to report?”

“Actually, yes,” Catra smiled. “One of the guards there, she was a Jedi survivor. Wielded a lightsaber pretty well too.”

“Did you apprehend or dispose of her?” Hordak asked. 

“Unfortunately, no,” Catra answered. “But I don’t think Vos knows he had a Jedi in his arsenal, perhaps we could exploit that.”

“If you think you can, then find a way,” Hordak growled and hung up. 

“That could’ve gone better,” Catra mumbled to herself. 

* * *

Catra walked into the war room, flanked by Scorpia. In front of her was a large hologram of the city on Garel. An animation was playing on a loop of four red dots flying to the east. 

“What’s this?” Catra asked.

“We had several TIE fighters pursuing a small freighter that refused to cooperate with your grounding order, commander,” a sergeant replied. “We lost all three fighters while the freighter left our airspace and escaped through hyperspace.”

“Do we have the ship’s signature?” Catra turned to sergeant. 

“Yes, commander.” he answered. “It appears to be ‘Darla’.”

“Cute name. Add it to the fugitive logs, top priority,” Catra ordered.

“Yes, commander,”

“Anything else to report?”

“Yes, commander. We believe that Vos wasn’t on the ship that escaped. He’s still on the planet, most likely still in the city.”

Catra hummed. “That is interesting, good work.” she said. “No get some search parties out there, I want the entire city combed! Every nook and cranny!”

Everyone in the room stayed at their posts.

“You heard the commander!” Scorpia shouted. “Move! Move! Move!”

The room became a frenzy of grey-suited men barking orders into communicators and frantically tapping on the holo-projector. 

“Thanks, captain,” Catra said.

“It’s my job, commander,” Scorpia replied. 

* * *

Within the hour, they had sent six squads of stormtroopers down into the city to search for Dryden Vos. Catra was determined not to come up empty-handed, this was the one person she had been hunting for her entire time as an inquisitor. 

Except now there was this Jedi. 

It had felt strange fighting her, like they knew each other once, somehow. Like they were friends. 

_Friends…_

It hit her, while standing on the bridge of her star destroyer, looking at the city below, that she knew who this was. Adora. She had fought Adora. 

A silent tear fell behind the black mask of Catra’s helmet. 

“Commander! The report!” the sergeant from earlier ran up behind her.

“What!?” Catra snapped. 

“The report, commander,” the sergeant handed Catra the datapad. She snatched it and the officer flinched. Catra sensed that he had almost pissed his pants. “The first squad has reported that their sector is completely clear, commander. The other squads aren’t finished but are also reporting nothing.”

“This is good, sergeant,” Carta handed him back the datapad. “Keep me updated.”

* * *

The whole effort had been a waste. Vos was nowhere in the city, likely already off in another system, and far out of the Empire’s reach.

“That bastard!” Catra slammed a fist onto her desk. “Why did I think a bunch of useless bucketheads could find the most wanted man in the Outer Rim?”

“Commander-” Scorpia started.

“What, captain?” Catra growled. 

“We have the report on the Jedi you fought,” Scorpia lifted up another datapad. “If you’re interested.”

Catra grabbed the report. “Leave,” she commanded. Scorpia turned and opened the door. “And thank you, captain.” she finished. 

Catra couldn’t see beneath Scorpia’s helmet to tell if she had smiled, but the way she had paused made it seem that way.

The doors slid shut and Catra returned to Adora’s report. “Let’s see here, Adora,” she said to herself. “What have you gotten yourself into?”

* * *

In addition to yesterday’s incident, there were several other reports on similar-looking women. Catra quickly ruled most of them out due to the lack of resemblance to Adora, but the rest of them seemed to be her. 

It appeared that Adora had been working for Crimson Dawn a little over a year now, and it appeared that she had acquired a group of friends. Catra quickly searched for Adora’s comrades, the Mandalorian brought up countless unwanted results, but the others seemed to have a record similar to Adora’s recently. 

Vos definitely had no clue he had a Jedi at his disposal. Spice running, basic guard duty, these were not tasks you assigned to a trained force-user, especially not one as prodigious as Adora. 

Catra let out a sigh. There was no use dwelling on it. She stood up and walked out of her office. 

“Put out a bounty on these four,” she handed the datapad to the first office she found. “And I want them alive, they have information I need.” The last part was a lie, but how else was she going to explain it?

“Yes, commander,” the officer assured her.

* * *

When Catra got to the bridge, Hordak was standing there. “I see you still have more failure to report, 12th Sister,” he said.

“He got away again, so what?” Catra grumbled. “He’s just like any other crime boss, just a bit sneakier. This Jedi on the other hand-”

“Are you questioning my judgement?” Hordak shouted.

“No, Moff Hordak,” Catra crossed her arms.

“Would you like to know why I insist on you chasing Dryden Vos?” Hordak asked.

“That would be helpful,” Catra answered.

“It’s not about the capture of Vos himself, though his apprehension would be beneficial,” Hordak started. “The one he works for is who we’re really after.”

“The one he works for?” Catra snorted. “I thought this guy was at the top, highest profile crime-lord in the Outer Rim.”

“Dryden Vos may have you fooled, but his deception does not escape my attention,” Hordak said. “He commands nearly half of all syndicates that run the high profile crime planets. The Pikes, The Black Sun, Death Watch-”

“Enough with the theatrics,” Catra interrupted. “Just tell me who this guy is.”

“Maul,” Hordak stated.

“Who?” Catra asked.

“Maul,” Hordak repeated. “Surely Vader would have informed you of such a high-profile enemy.”

“Apparently not,” Catra huffed. 

“Nevertheless,” Hordak continued. “I want you to drop this new Jedi you’ve found, another inquisitor will deal with her. I want all of you time and assets devoted to finding Darth Maul. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Moff Hordak,” Catra answered. She regretted sending out that bounty, now some other whack-job was going to get all the credit for _her_ work. 

“Good,” Hordak turned to face the window. “Send anything you have on this Jedi to me immediately, and anything new, if it comes up.”

“Yes, sir,”

* * *

_Karabast!_

Catra burst into her office with a rage greater than any she’d had in battle, which really wasn’t saying much, but she was _pissed_ . She felt like she was _this_ close to finding Adora, and now she was way out of her reach, for good this time. 

After the several minutes it took to calm down, Catra begrudgingly sent all the reports she had gathered to Hordak, including the ones on Adora’s friends. ‘ _Hope he likes dozens of useless Mandalorian reports._ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 6. The angst has begun!  
> Thanks again to my friend for helping me edit this!  
> [ Check out my tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there much, but it's away to find chapter updates.


	7. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After departing from Florrum, Adora  
> Grey and the rest of the Best Friend  
> Squad head to their next rendezvous  
> with Crimson Dawn....

As Darla rocketed through hyperspace, Adora dreamed, or rather, remembered.

* * *

It was the day leading up to Order 66 and the rise of the Empire, the second-worst day of Adora’s life. The day itself was quite uneventful, even hopeful, in an odd, twisted sort of way. The talk seemed to be that the war was coming to an end, Count Dooku had been defeated and Master Kenobi had been sent to deal with General Grievous. 

Adora was walking through the library with her old master, Mara Hope. Her name was no mistake, she was exceptionally kind and hopeful, even by Jedi standards, though, looking back, Adoa realized it might’ve been in spite of Jedi standards. 

“I can’t believe this war is finally going to be over,” Mara said. 

“I know,” Adora replied. “It feels like it’s been going on for Forever!”

Mara laughed. “Nothing lasts forever, Adora. You should do well to remember that.”

“Yes, master,” Adora answered. She noticed the flick of a tail in the shadows behind one of the columns. “Actually, master,” Adora started. “I was wondering if I could take the rest of the day off. As an early celebration of this war being over?”

It was a bold-faced lie and they both knew it, but this was Mara. “Alright, padawan,” she said. “But remember what we talked about today; you need to work on your meditation.”

“Yes, master, thank you, master,” Adora gave a slight bow.

“You’re welcome, kid,” but Adora was already off, running into the dark shadow of the column.

When Adora got there, she found nothing. The area was completely vacant.

“Hey, Adora,”

“AHH!” Adora shrieked. “Catra! You scared me!”

“I thought Jedi weren’t supposed to be afraid,” Catra laughed. 

“I’m not afraid, and I’m just a padawan!” Adora pointed a finger at Catra’s chest. “And you are too, so start acting like it!”

“Jeez, I was just messing with you, Adora,” Catra said. “So, why’d you come over to see me?”

“I thought you called me over with your tail flip,” Adora pouted.

“Maybe,” Catra winked. “Wanna go practice lightsabers upstairs with the wooden sticks?”

“Yeah, sure!”

* * *

The dream shifted.

Adora was standing over Mara’s body. The clone trooper who had killed her was now pointing his blaster at her.

“Why are you doing this?” Adora was crying. “I thought you were supposed to protect us!”

“Sorry, kid,” the soldier replied. “Just following orders.”

“Get away from her!” Catra’s blue blade flew from nowhere and cut the clone down. He let out a last pained shriek before falling to the ground. Catra landed gracefully on the floor. “Hey, Adora!”

“Catra!” Adroa cried. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting you, silly!” Catra reached out her hand to Adora. “Now, c’mon! Let’s get out of here!”

Adroa grabbed Catra’s hand and stood up, she led her down a path Adroa had never seen before. “Catra,” Adora pointed behind her. “The exit’s that way.”

Catra laughed. “What?” she asked. “Did you think we were going to waltz out the front door?” she laughed again. “You did, didn’t you?”

“Catra!” Adroa said. “It’s not funny! Where are we going?”

“The hanger,” Catra let out a last chuckle. “We can find something to fly us out of here.”

When they got to the hanger, they found that all of the vehicles had been locked down and the blast doors had been shut. 

“What are we going to do now?” Adora sighed.

“Look!” Catra pointed at an LAAT/i docked on the far wall. “We can use that gunship to bow a hole in the door and get out!”

“Catra, I’m not so sure-” Adora started.

“You got a better idea?” Catra asked.

“No,” 

The girls climbed into the gunship’s cockpit, Adora in the driver’s seat and Catra in the gunner’s. 

“Catra, I don’t know how to fly this thing,” Adora was sweating over the consol. 

“You figure that out, let me see…” she hovered over her consol. “This one?” she pressed a button. Three blue missiles flew from the ship’s wings and exploded into another LAAT/i on the opposite wall. “Oops.”

A large piece of shrapnel flew from the wreckage and collided with one of the arms holding their ship up. The arm broke and the gunship fell on one side.

“Catra!” Adora yelled.

“What?” Catra said. “Now the ship is free!”

Adora grumbled and thrust the joystick up. The ship flung itself out from the other arm and slammed into the blast door.

“Adora!” Catra yelled.

“Catra!” Adora rustled the joystick again. The ship rose up a few meters and stabilized. “I think I got it! Try the button again!”

Three more missiles flew out of the other wing and melted the blast door off with a fiery explosion. 

A squad of clone troopers ran through the hanger door.

“LAAT/i gunship, what are you doing?” a clone’s voice came through the speaker.

“Uh…”

One of the clones made a gesture at the gunship and the rest started firing their basters. 

“Time to go!” Catra shouted.

Adora maneuvered the ship out through the hole in the blast door and out onto the Coruscant skyway. Adora was barely able to fly the clutter of ships without hitting any of them, though most of that was civilians actively trying to avoid a military vehicle. 

They were doing alright for a few minutes before they had two police dropships pursuing them. “LAAT/i gunship, stand down!” one of the ships loudspeakers blared. “Land immediately or we will be forced to fire!”

“I’m going to pull down,” Adora said.

“Adora, don’t!” Catra shouted. “If we land, they’ll kill us. We can survive if we keep flying!”

“This is your last warning!” 

Adora kept the ship in the air. 

_ BOOM! _

The ship rocked forward. Alarms started blaring in Adora’s cockpit. She pulled the ‘bail’ lever and the windshield flew off. She climbed out onto the ridge of the ship. 

“Catra! C’mon!” Adora guestered to Catra, who was still in her cabin. 

“I can’t!” Catra said. No sound came through, but Adora could read her lips. “The lever’s broken!”

The police ships started firing their smaller laser cannons at the ship. Adora ignited her lightsaber and began deflecting them, green energy twirling away the red. Adora had an opportunity and deflected a bolt and cut off Catra’s windshield in one stroke of her blade.

“Thanks!” Catra climbed onto the ridge herself.

“Jump!” Adora grabbed Catra’s hand. She put as much power into her legs as possible, and lept from the ship, still holding on to Catra. They flew through the air, eventually landing on a ledge sidewalk fifty meters away. Adora stood up and caught Catra right before she hit the ground.

“Thanks, again,” Catra blushed.

Adora set Catra down and turned around. The gunship they were in exploded midair and the police ships turned and headed to where they had landed.

“Run!” Adora shouted. They ran into the crowd and down an alleyway. 

The dropships flew up to the ledge of the walk and six shock troopers, the Coruscant guard, jumped out of each ship. “Fan out!” one of them said. “Report in if you find one of them.”

“Adora, we need to split up,” Catra said. 

“No, I’m not leaving you,” Adora grabbed Catra’s hand. “We can do this, together.”

“Alright,” Catra sighed. “But if we die, I’ll kill you.”

“Fair enough,”

Adora jumped onto a fire escape three stories up, Catra followed. They climbed the creaking metal staircases all the way to the top of the building, which was nearly forty floors. 

“There,” Adora said proudly. “Now we should be out of their reach and we get a nice view of the city.”

* * *

The dream shifted again.

It was a week later. Adora was returning to the hideout they had made in the apartment building with some food and water. She was greeted by a blue lightsaber shoved in her face. “Hey, Catra,” Adora put her empty hand up. “It’s just me.”

Catra retracted her lightsaber. “I know, sorry,” she crossed her arms and sat down. “I just wasn’t sure… nevermind, it’s not important.”

“Hey, hey, hey,” Adora set down the bag and walked over to Catra. “Wasn’t sure what?”

“I said it’s nothing,” Catra turned her head away.

“Catra,”

“I wasn’t sure if you'd come back!” Catra yelled, pushing Adora away. 

“Catra,”

“I know it’s stupid,” Catra grumbled. “You must think I’m an idiot. I can practically  _ feel _ you thinking it.”

“Catra, I don’t think you’re an idiot,” Adora said. “And I don’t think it’s stupid to worry about that. It’s dangerous out there right now, but you look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.” 

Catra just scowled and looked at the floor, but Adora could sense that she had appreciated that. “You promise?”

“I promise,” Adora nodded. “You wanna hug?”

“...yes,”

Adora wrapped her arms around Catra and that’s how it stayed for a while, but Catra eventually hugged her back.

“Better?” Adora asked.

“Yeah,” Catra wiped a tear out of her blue eye.

The next day, when Adora returned, Catra was gone, heck, everything was gone. All of the things they had stolen in the past week had been cleared out and there was no note, no nothing. Adora didn’t know why, but the fact that Catra hadn’t left a note hurt her the most. This was the worst day of Adora’s life.

When this had happened, Adora had just sat there and cried for what felt like a week, eventually stealing a bus ticket and making her way to the Outer Rim. 

But this was different, Adora was different. She was twenty-one again, and she was not alone.

“Hello there,” the inquisitor ignited her lightsaber behind Adora.

Adora turned and reached at her waist, but her saber was gone and she was still in her pajamas. 

“Easy prey,” the inquisitor seemed to smirk behind her mask. She lunged forward. 

Adora dodged it and turned to run, but something wasn’t right. The faster she ran, the faster she was pulled toward the inquisitor. “What? No! Help!” she cried.

The inquisitor just laughed and spun her lightsaber, preparing to strike her down .

* * *

Adora woke with a start and shot up in her bed. She gasped, patting herself until she realized that she was on board Darla, and, more importantly, alive. She turned and looked at her bedside clock. 4:17. There was no way she was getting back to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Merry Christmas Eve! (or happy holidays)  
> Hope you enjoyed chapter 7. It took me a while to come up with a name for this chapter, and then it hit me. Duh. So anyway, Adora is totally, completely, 100% fine, why would you even ask that?  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there much, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> Here's some Wookieepedia articles for some stuff relating to this chapter (if you are interested):  
> [ Jedi Temple ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Jedi_Temple?file=JediTemple-Deceived.jpg)  
> [ Laat/i Gunship ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Low_Altitude_Assault_Transport/infantry?file=Low_Altitude_Assault_Transport.png)  
> [ LAAT/le Patrol Gunship](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/LAAT/le_patrol_gunship?file=Republic-police-gunship_detail.png) (Corruscant Guard Dropship)  
> [ Shock Trooper](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Shock_trooper/Legends?file=CC-4477-DB.jpg) (Corruscant Guard)


	8. The Disturbances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After departing from Florrum, Adora  
> Gray and the rest of the Best Friend  
> Squad head to Mos Eisley on the  
> planet Tatooine to meet with Dryden  
> Vos's representative....

Darla emerged out of hyperspace to a scene of the sandy-orange planet. 

Adora dragged herself, still in her pajamas, to the cockpit, she hadn’t gotten any more sleep last night. She tried to say some form of greeting to Bow and Entrapta, but all that came out was “ungh.” 

“Hey, are you okay?” Bow swiveled his chair to face Adora. 

“She’s been turned into a zombie!” cackled Entrapta.

“‘m fine, Bow,” Adora yawned. “How do you have this much energy, Entrapta?” 

“I didn’t get any sleep last night!” Entrapta said gleefully.

“Great,” sighed Adora. “Neither did I.”

“Adora,” Bow said. “Why don’t you go back to your room and get some sleep while we land? It’ll probably be another couple of hours before we need you.”

“Bow, I could get any sleep last night,” Adora groaned. “What makes you think I’ll get some now?”

“Use the force!” Bow suggested. 

“That’s not how the force works,” Bow just shrugged and turned back to the consol. Adora sighed again and turned out of the cockpit.  _ It was worth a shot, wasn’t it? _ She opened the sliding door of her room and collapsed onto her bed. The door slid shut behind her.

The darkness and silence of her room weighed on Adora. She couldn't concentrate on anything, even her breathing. There was just this feel of… well, dread, like something had gone horribly, horribly wrong and she hadn’t noticed. Sure, there was that inquisitor, but that didn’t seem like it should warrant this much stress. The feeling intensified, gradually at first, but eventually the weight on Adora’s mind became too much. She wanted to scream, but she couldn’t move. Something was stopping her, something big, something nasty, something...

* * *

“Adora? Adora!” Glimmer’s voice pounded into Adora’s skull. 

“Glimmer, let her rest,” Bow said. “She wasn’t looking too good before we landed.”

“Ugh, I’m awake,” Adora groaned. 

“Oh, thank the force you’re awake!” Entrapta shouted. “We thought you were dead!”

“We did not think she was dead!” Bow’s voice cracked on the last word. “Adora, are you okay?”

Adora sat up in her bed. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I just had a… headache.” That seemed possible, it sure felt like a headache. It was definitely a headache. “What’s happening?”

“We landed about an hour ago,” Bow said. “We’re still waiting for Dryden’s representative to get here.”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t miss it,” Adora stood up. “Now, I gotta’ change so…” 

“Right,” Bow blushed. Glimmer and Entrapta did the same. “Sorry.”

The door slid shut after they left. 

Adora threw on her white tunic over her tank top. She slid off the pajamas and pulled on a pair of grey pants. She took out a pair of white socks and put those on too. She took her red jacket off her coat hanger and pulled that arounder herself. She buckled her belt on and hooked on her lightsaber. Finally, she put on her boots. 

Adora walked out of her room feeling much better, chipper, even. Something about feeling like absolute garbage and then passing out really washes your worries. 

“Hey, you feelin’ better?” Bow asked.

“Actually, yes,” Adora answered. 

“Great, because Dryden’s thug just got here,” Glimmer said. 

The cargo bay door opened and a tall, white-haired Keshiri woman stepped forward. She was absolutely jacked, all of her muscles seemed to be bigger than Bow’s helmet. Perhaps they were thick enough that even Adora’s lightsaber couldn’t cut through them. 

“Oh, look,” the Keshiri said. “Another one of Dryden’s loser squads.”

“Hey!” Bow shouted. “We’re the Best Friend Squad, not the loser squad!”

The Keshiri laughed, but it felt more like an earthquake. “You’re funny, mando,” She bellowed. “Here, I’ll put in a little extra for your little comedy routine.”

“Looks like you managed to get Hondo’s ‘little extra on top’,” Adora whispered.

“I didn’t think of that,” Bow replied. “But I guess I did.”

Adora, Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta pushed the spice crates out onto the landing pad. Three Hylobon Enforcers came up and took the crates out of the hangar. 

“So, what does Dryden want with all this spice?” Glimmer asked. “It seems like a lot.”

“Don’t know,” the Keshiri answered. “And I don’t care. As long as I keep getting paid, I keep working for him. But as far as I’m concerned, I’m the one in charge of his territory on this dustball.”

“That’s a bold claim,” Adora said.

“What are you going to do, tattle on me?” the Keshiri replied. 

“No, no, I wasn’t,” Adora stepped back.

“Good, because no one likes a rat, especially Huntara,” the Kesiri pointed to herself.

“You’re purple! Me too!” Entrapta exclaimed. 

“Brilliant observation, little Twi’lek,” Huntara droned. “Got any others?”

“Actually yes,” Entrapta replied. “We’re currently almost out of fuel, but I’m sure you’re not the one we’re supposed to talk to for that.”

“You’re actually pretty smart, little Twi’lek,” Huntara laughed. “And you’re right, I’m not the one you need to talk to. Pretty sure I scared off the guy who’s in charge of this dump.”

“Thanks, we can find them,” Bow said hastily. “And you can be on your way now.”

“Alright, I’ll see you around, loser squad,” Huntara waved as she walked out of the hangar.

“Best Friend Squad!” Bow shouted at Huntara.

“Whatever, mando,”

* * *

The guy in charge happened to be cowering behind a nearby corner, and soon, Darla had a big nozzle pumping fuel attached to her. 

“The man said it’s going to be at least another hour before Darla’s all fueled up,” Bow siad. “Glimmer, can you and Adora go into town and get some food, we’re low on that too.”

“Sure,” Adora and Glimmer said in unison.

The streets of Mos Eisley were a dangerous place, each corner had either a mugger or a stormtrooper waiting behind it. Adora had been working in the criminal underworld for years at this point, but this was another level entirely. Glimmer and Adora both put on long cloaks with the hoods up to avoid as much attention as possible. 

Glimmer was doing the actual buying while Adora was keeping an eye out behind her. 

“Adora, you’re being paranoid,” Glimmer said. “Nothing’s going to happen, it’ll be fine.”

“That’s what we thought back on Garel, and look how that turned out,” Adora responded. 

“I’m just saying; you could lighten up a little,” Glimmer laughed. “It’s not like a stormtrooper is going to come out of nowhere and arrest us for no reason.”

“What about three?” Adora asked. 

“Huh?”

A group of three sand-covered stormtroopers were standing about five meters away from them. “You two,” one of them said, pointing at Adora and Glimmer. “Stop where you are, I need to see some identification.”

“Uh… no?” Adora responded. She grabbed Glimmer’s shoulder and bolted in the opposite direction. 

The stormtroopers gave chase. “We got two runners,” one of them shouted into his comm. “They’re heading east, we need someone to cut them off.”

Adora dragged Glimmer into an alleyway. She whipped out a blaster and shot one of the stormtroopers in the chest. He fell backwards with a soft thud onto the sand.

“TK-12284 is down!” another trooper shouted into his comm. “Requesting immediate backup!”

Adora and Glimmer continued through the alley and out onto another street. They ran into another group of stormtroopers and they jumped behind some behind some crates. The other group of stormtroopers caught up and both groups started firing. 

“Now was I being too paranoid, Glimmer?” Adora asked. 

“You were right!” Glimmer peeked out from behind one of the crates and shot at one of the stormtroopers. It missed. “Argh! If only I could use my right arm! This damn sling!”

“Hold on, I think I have an idea,” Adora said. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on the crates in front of them. A second or two passed and the crates flew forward, crushing three stormtroopers. Adora jumped up and ignited her lightsaber. 

“It’s a Jedi!” one of the troopers shouted into his comm. “More backu-”

But Adora cut through the remaining two with ease. She retracted her lightsaber and leaned down to help Glimmer up. “Come on,” she said. “We have to get back to Darla, there’s probably a Star Destroyer on its way here right now.” 

“No shit,” Glimmer coughed, standing up. “You made quite the mess.”

Adora nodded, two dead squads of stormtroopers was indeed  _ quite the mess _ . 

They ran back to the hangar, but Adora had the strange feeling that she needed to be somewhere else. 

“Bow! We have to go!” Glimmer shouted as they ran to the ship.

“What? Why?” Bow asked. 

“We ran into some trouble at the market,” Adora explained. “And there’s probably a Star Destroyer coming, so we need to go now.”

“Then let’s go,” Bow agreed. “Entrapta! We gotta go! Now”

“Alright!” the Twi’lek exclaimed, but Adora couldn’t see her.

Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta onto Darla, but Adora stayed behind. 

“Adora, Let’s go!” Bow shouted. “You were the one who said we needed to leave now!”

“I have somewhere I need to be,” Adora said. 

“What do you mean?” Glimmer yelled. “You need to be on this ship! Or we’re taking off without you!”

“Glimmer! We are not!” Bow shouted, but Adora wasn’t listening. 

“Go ahead and leave,” Adora said. “I need to do this alone.” She ran off out of the hangar. 

“Adora!” Glimmer shouted. 

* * *

Adora ran through the streets of Mos Eisley, not entirely knowing where she was going. She knew that she needed a speeder, and from there, well, the force would guide her. It had been doing that so far. 

Adora came up on a shop, one selling old, used tech. It had a dinky-looking 74-Z speeder bike parked out front, one without a restraining bolt on it. She jumped on the bike and realized she didn’t know how to ride one. She tried twisting the handles, but they wouldn’t move.

“Hey! What’re you doing?” the shop owner came running outside.

Adora adjusted her feet and the speeder shot forward. “Sorry!” She yelled behind her.

Adora drove the speeder out of town and onto the open desert. Somehow, she knew she was going in the right direction. 

A few minutes of riding past, and Adora started to get a splitting headache. It was like the one from the morning, but it felt one hundred times worse. She toppled sideways off the speeder bike and it spiraled and crashed into a nearby rock. But Adora didn’t see that, the last thing she saw was a cloaked figure walking towards her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!  
> Holy shit! 50 Kudos? You guys are the best!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 8. I'm really glad I found a way to fit Huntara in here. The representative was originally going to be a Star Wars character, but their inclusion didn't make that much sense yet and I realized that it might be my only opportunity to include Huntara.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there a lot, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles relating to this chapter (if you are interested):  
> [ Keshiri ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Keshiri)  
> [ 74-Z Speeder Bike ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/74-Z_speeder_bike)


	9. Battle of the Heroes (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After countless distractions of her  
> long-lost friend, Catra, inquisitor  
> of the Empire, tries to find a way  
> to ignore the feelings tugging at  
> her. But fate is a cruel mistress....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ THIS FIRST!!!  
> The reason why this chapter is named the way that it is, is because that's the name of the score that plays during Anakin and Obi-wan's duel in ep. III.  
> That is all, carry on...

Sulking seemed to be the one thing Catra was good at these days, at least, according to Hordak. 

“It seems that you’ve been keeping busy, 12th Sister,” Hordak growled over the hologram. 

“Ha, ha,  _ Moff _ Hordak,” Catra replied. “I wasn’t feeling well, so I took a few days off.”

“I know for a fact that you didn’t, but my call is not for the purpose of berating you,” Hodak said.

“Oh great, what a relief,”

Hordak growled again. “A squad of stormtroopers encountered the Jedi you found on Tatooine.” he continued. “The 10th Brother has been dispatched to dispose of her.”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to insult me,” Catra frowned.

“I thought you would like to know,” Hordak’s voice became almost softer. Almost. “And I hope you can stop being needlessly distracted by this and focus on the task that has been assigned to you.”

“Fine,” Catra scoffed. “Thanks for telling me, it makes me feel  _ so _ much better.” She ended the call. She pressed one of the buttons on her desk. “Captain,” she said.

“Yes, commander?” Scorpia answered immediately.

“Get this to navigation, we’re heading to Tatooine,” Catra commanded. ‘ _ And to Adora. _ ’

* * *

Adora woke up in a cold sweat. There was a towel on her forehead, damp from her sweat. 

“Glad to see you’re awake,” a voice came from somewhere Adora couldn’t see. 

Adora sat up and looked around. She was in a small sand hut. There was a robed man sitting on the opposite side of the building staring at her. “Who are you?” she asked. 

“I could ask you the same thing,” the man responded. “But since you asked first, you can call me Ben.”

“I’m Adora,” Adora said. 

“Huh,” Ben stood up. “Well, hello there, Adora. You’re certainly a brave one, most Jedi these days don’t use their real names.”

‘What?” Adora jumped up. “How did you know?”

Ben laughed. “Well, for your name, you clearly weren’t lying.” he said. “For being a Jedi, I’d recognize that style of lightsaber hilt anywhere, especially since it’s the same as my own. For both, well, you just told me.” 

“Oh, well, that was pretty stupid of me,” Adora pouted. “I’m glad I found another Jedi, though, you’re probably the reason the force was calling to me.”

“Well, you found me,” Ben said. “And good thing you did so right before you passed out.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Adora scratched the back of her head. “It happened this morning too, and I don’t know why.”

“I’m sure those were disturbances in the force,” Ben explained. “The Empire is always committing some atrocity against the Force. I felt them too, but your reaction is wildly different than any I have seen before. Did you get enough sleep last night?”

“Oh,” Adora’s face fell. “No, no I did not.”

Ben laughed again. “Well, that’s something you need to work on then, isn’t it?”

Adora frowned. This was a particularly cheeky Jedi, he reminded her of Mara. The thought of her old master made Adora’s throat burn, so she quickly buried her memory. 

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Adora mumbled. “So, what are you doing on Tatooine?”

“There’s a job here I need to do,” Ben explained. “I can’t leave until it’s finished.”

“I could help you,” Adora offered. “It could go quicker with two working on it.”

“This job doesn’t work like that,” Ben laughed, and then stopped.

“Wha-?” Adora started, but then she felt it. “Was that another disturbance?”

“No,” Ben said. “This is something else.”

They both stepped outside and Ben looked up. “There,” he pointed at the sky. “That’s what.”

Adora squinted. She could barely make out the small, grey triangle that had appeared. A Star Destroyer. 

“I don’t know how they found me,” Ben gaped. 

“Actually,” Adora said. “This might be for me.”

“Then you need to leave,” Ben turned to Adora. “Now.”

“But-”

“I can’t help you,” Ben said. “But go to Dagobah, that’s where Master Yoda is, he’ll help you. Now go!”

* * *

The 10th Brother was in a good mood. The thrill of the hunt was exhilarating, and his blade was craving more blood. ‘ _ Another mission, another dead Jedi, _ ’ he thought, proudly wearing a smug smile as he walked onto his shuttle. 

The shutted dropped out of the hangar of the Star Destroyer and flew down to Tatooine’s surface. 

“The Jedi was seen heading west from Mos Eisley on a stolen speeder bike,” the 10th Brother told the pilots. “So that’s where we start.”

“Yes sir,” one of the pilots replied.

The ship swooped down to the small city and turned west. The 10th Brother started scanning the ground for the Jedi. Something small and smoking caught his eye. “There,” he commanded. “Put me down by that.”

The 10th Brother walked down from the shuttle and up to what turned out to be the wreckage of a speeder bike. “A wreckage without a body,” he said to himself. “She’s still out here somewhere.” He waved to the shuttle and it took off back to the Star Destroyer.

* * *

_ The Rebuker _ emerged out of hyperspace. 

Catra stood on the bridge, staring at the desert planet. ‘ _ Adora’s down there somewhere, _ ’ she thought. She turned and walked back to the elevator. “Captain, I’m going down there,” she said to Scorpia. “Prepare a shuttle.”

“Yes, commander.”

* * *

The shuttle flew down to the planet. Catra stood, waiting in anticipation, behind the pilots. She quickly found the 10th Brother, who was wandering around a crashed speeder bike. 

“Put us down,” Catra commanded.

“Yes, commander,”

“What is the meaning of this, 12th Sister?” the 10th Brother asked when Catra stepped out of the shuttle. “I thought I was the only one on this assignment.”

“Well, you thought wrong, 10th Brother,” Catra responded. “There’s been a change of plans.”  _ My plans, anyway _ . “We’re working together on this one.”

“Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“I don’t know,” Catra said with feigned ignorance. “I guess Vader forgot to tell you.”

“Enough sass!” the 10th Brother yelled. “Let’s get on with this.”

“Ugh, you’re no fun.”

* * *

Adora rushed down the hill on which Ben’s house sat. Where the hell was she going to go? Mos Eisley was too far off to walk, even if she could walk it, the Jundland Wastes were full of Sandpeople. Why did she have to leave the ship?

_ Shit _ .

The ship. Her friends. Why the fuck did she leave them? 

And for what? A few minutes of speaking with an old Jedi? And instructions to another far-off master? Adora had made bad decisions before, but this was something else. 

But what choice does she have? Her only viable option is to walk back to Mos Eisley, no matter how dangerous that was. 

* * *

“Wait,” Catra held up her hand. “Stop for a second.”

“What now?” the 10th Brother asked grumpily. 

“I sense something,” Catra said. “No, wait… some _ one _ .” She could hear footsteps coming ever closer, but she couldn't see the source. “This damn sandstorm.”

Suddenly, the sand cleared. There stood Adora, holding out her hand. She had cleared the sand away. “Oh, there’s two of you now,” she said. 

“And soon to be none of you,” the 10th Brother growled. 

All three of them ignited their lightsabers, one green blade for Adora, and two spinning blades for each inquisitor. 

The 10th Brother leaped at Adora. She rolled out of the way and he landed hard, blade-first, onto the sand. Catra swung in, but Adora blocked and threw her off. Both inquisitors spun their sabers, creating a solid wall of red plasma. 

Adora staggered back, there was no way she could get a strike in with their blades spinning so wildly. 

The 10th Brother broke the wall and leaned in for a deadly blow. Adora backflipped out of the way just in time, the red blade barely scraped the bottom of her boot. 

Adora landed softly on the sand. “Is that all you got?” she yelled. 

“I’ll kill you!” the 10th Brother bellowed. 

“We’re not here to kill her!” Catra shouted. “I-  _ we _ need her alive!”

“Lord Vader said specifically to kill her,” the 10th Brother growled. “You should’ve known that, being sent by Vader and all.”

“Fine.” 

* * *

Adora was just having a wonderful day of mistakes. Getting involved in a duel with  _ two _ inquisitors was just the cherry on top. It was taking a lot just to not die to any of the swings coming at her. 

The force was her only ally. The constant leaping out of the way and pushing her opponents back wouldn’t have been possible without it. 

What was odd to Adora was that the feline inquisitor seemed to be holding back, while the burly human was clearly giving it his all. But it was a puzzle that she couldn’t waste energy trying to figure out, this was a lightsaber duel, and one where she held no advantages. 

Despite all of it, she was miraculously still alive and holding her own. 

But her luck was turning. 

The feline inquisitor, got in a nick on her right shoulder, the arm holding her lightsaber. “ _ Agh _ ,” she covered the burn with her left hand. 

Not having her full range of motion really made the rest of the fight go downhill from there. She quickly lost balance and fell backwards onto the sand. The burly inquisitor raised his blade, ready to quickly end Adora’s life. She braced for the inevitable. 

But something unexpected happened. 

The feline inquisitor’s blade stabbed through her comrade’s chest. His face fell and he looked down at the bright red light sticking out himself. The sword retracted. “Why,” he croaked as he fell to the ground. 

“There’s been a change of plan,” the feline inquisitor said, and some sort of shockwave went through Adora’s body when she said it. “ _ I _ need her alive. But you wouldn’t understand wanting anything, except to see your victims being laid to waste. You’ve always disgusted me.”

The burly inquisitor let out a last, hoarse groan, or maybe a strained plea for mercy that would never come, before he stopped. He lay stone-cold dead on the sand. 

‘ _ What the hell just happened? _ ’ ran through Adora’s head on repeat. She had seen people die, heck, she’d killed people when she needed to, but this was different somehow. There was something about this betrayal that sent something in Adora over the edge. 

“Sorry you had to see that,” the feline inquisitor began fumbling with her helmet. She took it off and revealed her face. 

“Hey, Adora.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chater 9, and the brief Obi-wan cameo! It might be a couple days to a week until the next chapter, so don't get worried if I don't post anything tomorrow, even though that's when I've been doing recently. So sorry to make you wait for part 2.  
> As always, thanks to mu friend for helping me edit this!  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there a lot, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> Extra stuff to check out (if you are interested):  
> [ Map of Tatooine](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2d/41/cd/2d41cd598f73f85742688a684e43dd98.jpg).


	10. Battle of the Heroes (pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora Gray, Jedi in exile, lays of the  
> sands of Tatooine, face-to-face with  
> a person she has longed to see for years,  
> but she could never have seen it coming  
> like this....

“ _ Catra? _ ” Adora said before her mind could comprehend what was happening.

It was Catra.

It was goddamn. Mother. Fucking. Catra.

_ Holy shit _ .

She had gotten a haircut. Gone was the lion-like mane that Adora had once known. It had been replaced by a much neater, much shorter military-style cut. It looked off on her, especially around her ears, so much so that Adora might not have believed it was, in fact, Catra. 

But those eyes. 

Those beautiful, mismatched eyes that Adora could never be mad at. It was her, there was no mistaking that.

And then something erupted inside of her. 

A primordial rage sprung to life in Adora, one that no amount of Jedi training could even begin to stop. She had longed to see Catra again for years at this point, but never in a million years would she have wanted it, or even imagined it, to be anything like this. This reality was something even Adora’s worst nightmares were afraid to entertain the concept of. 

Catra was an inquisitor,  _ the _ inquisitor. Catra had fought her, even tried to  _ kill _ her, multiple times.

And that was not okay.

“Catra…” Adora said again, softly this time. “I- I don’t…”

“Adora, listen,” Catra interrupted. “I know how this looks, but I promise-”

“You tried to kill me,” the words sounded unnatural in Adora’s mouth.

“Look, I know-” Catra began.

“ _ YOU TRIED TO KILL ME! _ ” Adora’s body erupted with rage, primordial and unstoppable. She ignited her lightsaber and swung hard at Catra.

Catra ignited her blade too, just in time. The sabers locked, sparks flew in all directions. “Adora, listen!” Catra hissed. “I’m trying to explain-”

“ _ I DON’T CARE! _ ” Adora screamed. She pulled back and lunged in for another strike. 

“Fine, then,” Catra growled. “If that’s what you want.”

It wasn’t the most elegant of duels, but it didn’t need to be. All of the raw emotion and feelings more than made up for the lack of flair. To the combatants, it was the most intense thing to have ever existed, while to a spectator, it might’ve looked simple, even boring. 

Their sabers clashed against one another, countless strokes of the deadly blade repelled each other in an endless cycle of flashing light. 

Green and Red. Good and evil. Light and dark. None of these things mattered to Adora, only the feelings of hurt and betrayal that stung more than any stab of a lightsaber. 

* * *

Catra didn’t know what reaction she expected from Adora, but this was certainly not it. It’s not like Adora didn’t have a right to be angry, but to this level? Adora was overreacting.

“I can’t believe you joined them!” Adora shouted, slicing her blade the same way she had done for the last hundreds of strikes. 

“It was either that or die, Adora!” Catra shouted back, blocking the same way again for the umpteenth time. “Would you really rather that I had died?”

“Maybe!” Adora yelled. “At least then I wouldn’t have to deal with the fact that my best friend turned to the  _ dark side _ and is trying to  _ kill _ me!”

‘ _ Adora didn’t mean that, _ ’ Catra thought. ‘ _ She would never dare to even think that _ .’ But Catra was still unsure, she had left her the people that had tried to kill them. “So you’re solution to that is killing me first?” she growled. “Seems kind of dark, for a  _ Jedi _ .”

“ _ AGH! _ ” Adora beat in for another of the same strike. 

Catra repelled it with the same block. “Adora, what if they had found you instead of me?” she asked. “What would you have done?”

“I would never have fallen to the dark side!” Adora shouted. 

“So you would’ve chosen to die?” It was a dumb question, Adora had always dreamed of dying like a martyr. 

“Yes!”

“I guess we just have different priorities, then!”

“Clearly!”

* * *

Adora knew what she was doing was bad, at least, in her mind. Her body didn’t share the same sensibilities, though. Each stroke only made her agrier, something she had been trained for years to avoid, but nothing could have prepared her for this. 

The duel seemed to drag on for days, weeks even, but it also felt like mere moments somehow at the same time. Time was meaningless when the extent of your rage can’t be put into words. 

A sudden explosion forced Catra and Adora apart. Adora looked up to see the source.

Darla swooped in for another few shots at Catra, but she jumped out of the way, easily avoiding them. 

The cargo bay doors opened as Darla slowly came down, hovering a few meters away from Adora. 

“Adora!” Glimmer waved for Adora to come to her. “C’mon!”

Adora ran to the ship. She half-expected Catra to follow her, but she just stood still, she even retracted her lightsaber. Adora leaped into the ship and the cargo bay doors slammed shut. 

“She’s in, Bow!” Glimmer called. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Got it!” Bow called back from the cockpit.

Adora tried to stagger to the front of the ship, but Glimer stopped her. “Adora, you’re hurt,” she said. “Let’s get you some bandages.” 

“I’m fine,” Adora groaned, shakily getting to her feet. “It’s just a flesh wound.”

“Adora, you’re clearly in pain,” Glimmer stood up as well. “Let’s get you patched up, and then you can do whatever you want.”

“Fine,”

Glimmer was the best person on the ship at giving medical aid, at least, according to Glimmer. To be fair, she wasn’t terrible, good even, but Adora still felt like complete shit after Glimmer had wrapped her scabs and burns up. She suspected that the feeling didn’t have anything to do with her physical injuries. 

Adora hobbled into Darla’s cockpit with a sling matching Glimmer’s. “Guys, I’m sorry-” she started. 

“Don’t worry about that now,” Bow said. “We’re just happy that you’re alright.”

“And we have to ram through an Imperial blockade!” Entrapta shouted with joy. “So that’s the least of our worries!”

“Oh crap,”Adora said to herself. She had forgotten all about the Star Destroyer, and now there were  _ two _ of them. “Guys, this is all my fault, I’m sorr _ AAAAAAAH _ !”

“Hang on!” Bow shouted. He thrust Darla forward and Adora was forced into a seat. 

Both Star Destroyers started firing their turbolasers and almost the entirety of Adora’s view became green light. 

“We’re not going to make it!” Adora yelled.

“I know!” Entrapta cackled. “Isn’t it exciting?”

“Only if you consider the looming spectre of death exciting!” Adora responded.

“I do!”

‘ _ Of course she does, _ ’ Adora thought. 

* * *

“Commander, we have the ship associated with the Jedi you were hunting attempting to exit the planet,” Scorpia said over the comm. “What should we do?”

‘ _ I’m going to regret this either way, aren’t I? _ ’ Catra thought. She paused for a moment and then sighed. “Let them pass,” she said. “We have our losses to recoup. Also, I need a shuttle…” she looked at the forgotten corpse of the 10th Brother. “And maybe a casket.”

* * *

The Star Destroyers stopped firing and Darla escaped to hyperspace.

“That was odd…” Bow hummed. “Why’d they stop firing?”

“I have no idea,” Adora responded. But in the back of her mind, there was a nagging feeling that she did. ‘ _ It couldn’t’ve been Catra, could it? _ ’ she thought. ‘ _ It was probably the only explanation, but why would she do it? She’s on the dark side, she’s  _ hunting _ me, wouldn’t destroying my ship be the easiest way to deal with me? Appease her bosses? She didn’t try to attack me when I was getting onto Darla, maybe… this is too confusing. _ ’ 

She headed back to her room in a state of emotional lowness that she had only felt once before, and even Catra’s disappearance might not even compare to what she felt now. How could she possibly deal with this? Catra was her enemy now, and what was she supposed to do, fight her now  _ former _ best friend? She could seek out Yoda, like Ben had told her to do, a Jedi master as wise as him might be able to help her out of this, even train her, perhaps. 

She flopped onto her bed and tried not to think about Catra, but it only led to more thoughts about Catra. Her eyes, her horrendous new haircut, the way she had mercilessly killed the other inquisitor and how she had tried to do the same to Adora. 

It was too much.

She sat up and turned around. She started punching her pillow, fast and aggressive, until it became a flat mush, useless. “Argh!” she cried and threw the pillow against the wall, the sound was much too soft for the mood she was in, she needed something more… destructive. 

Adora pulled out her lightsaber, but hesitated for a second. Was she really about to destroy her room? Was this really a good idea? She threw her weapon against the wall, it made a much more satisfying sound than the pillow. That was enough for now. 

Adora picked up the beat-up heap that was once her pillow and threw it back onto her bed, it would fluff back up again, she hoped. She practically slammed herself onto her bed and cried herself to sleep. 

* * *

Catra returned to  _ The Rebuker _ in a shared shuttle with the body of the 10th Brother as her only companion. She didn’t regret it, killing him, but it was going to require a lot of complicated acrobatics to avoid getting in trouble because of it, even if she wasn’t found guilty of killing him. 

The shuttle landed in the hangar bay and the doors opened with a slight hiss. Catra stepped out, followed by the 10th Brother’s casket. A procession of stormtroopers were lined up as a formality, but none of them had been informed that one of the famed inquisitors, the enactors of Lord Vader’s will, would be returning for their own funeral. Catra could sense the shock coming off of the men she passed, some of them weren’t even trying to hide it. 

The doors to the hangar opened and Hordak stepped out of the elevator.

“Moff Hordak,” Catra said, feigning surprise. “When did you get here?”

“While you were traipsing around Tatooine instead of doing your Job, 12th Sister,” Hordak replied, somehow managing to look indescribably angry yet more dead than the body lying in the 10th Brother’s casket. “When I am through with you, you’ll be-”

“ _ Moff Hordak _ ,” the elevator doors opened again, and a figure dressed in all black stepped out. He was wearing a helmet for which Catra’s was designed, one from which his loud breathing could be heard. Darth Vader himself. “When I heard that a Jedi had killed one of our inquisitors, I was not expecting for you to be threatening the survivor’s life.”

Both Hordak and Catra fell to one knee. “Forgive me, my lord,” Hordak said hastily. “I had specifically ordered the 12th sister to not-”

“Which you had no authority to do, Moff,” Vader interrupted, his voice echoing throughout the hangar. “The 12th Sister is allowed to use your resources to complete her mission in any way she sees fit. If she thought that going after this Jedi would help her find her target, then she has every right to do so.”

“But-” Hordak started.

“But what, Moff?” Vader asked. 

“Nothing, my lord,” Hordak lowered his head.

“12th Sister,” Vader turned to Catra, and she perked up. “It is now clear to me that this Jedi is more of a threat to the empire than anticipated. Now that you have had multiple encounters with her, I think it best that you should be the one in charge of her pursuit. We already have enough inquisitors after Maul as it is.” He not-so subtly turned to Hordak as he said the last sentence. 

“Yes, Lord Vader,” Catra said. “Thank you, Lord Vader.”

“Now rise,” Vader commanded. Both Hordak and Catra stood up, Hordak glaring at Catra with obvious envy. “It appears that we have a funeral to attend to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 10. Didn't expect Darth Vader to show up here, did you? I'm trying to transition to longer, more broad-scope chapters as this story progresses, which means there will also be longer breaks between new chapters being released. (pls subscribe)  
> Note: I am not saying that I don't like short-hair Catra, if anything, I like her look in season 5 the best. I am saying that her haircut in this is more extreme than in the show.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles relating to the chapter (if you are interested):  
> [ Imperial Shuttle ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lambda-class_T-4a_shuttle)


	11. The New Hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After killing the 10th Brother to  
> save her old friend, Adora Gray,  
> Catra returns to Coruscant with  
> Moff Hordak and Darth Vader to  
> attend the funeral of the man she  
> killed....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> READ THIS FIRST!  
> I added a content warning! Please make sure you are okay with that before continuing.  
> That is all, on to the fic!

After Vader had left, Catra went to the bridge with newfound confidence. Hordak was now essentially her subordinate and she could now focus on something that really mattered, Adora. 

But there was one small delay. 

* * *

_ The Rebuker _ emerged out of hyperspace above the city-world of Coruscant, the capital of the Empire. The massive ship was sent to hover over the spot where the funeral would take place. 

Scorpia tried to follow Catra into the elevator. 

“Captain, I need you to stay here,” Catra ordered. “Keep the engine warm, I want to leave as soon as the funeral is over.”

“Yes, commander,” Scorpia said. 

“Don’t worry,” Catra replied. “I’ll be back in…”

“Seven and a half hours,” Hordak finished. 

“Oh shit!” Catra said. “Well, I’ll be back in seven and a half hours.”

Catra and Hordak shared the shuttle that took them to the surface. Hordak wouldn’t be attending the funeral, so he was sent to the senate building. Catra, on the other hand, was attending, and was one of the speakers. 

The 10th Brother’s funeral was much more grandiose than a man as violent as him deserved. For a man who’s only major accomplishments were that of ruthless murder, the event seemed to regard him as a victim of the evils of the Jedi. It was held in front of the former Jedi Temple, now the Imperial Palace, home of the Emperor himself, and felt more like a military show of force than a funeral. But that was just the strength of Imperial propaganda, Catra almost believed the sob-story that one of the speakers was spouting, and she had been the one to kill him. 

The next speaker was a Clone Wars veteran, one who had killed his Jedi general well before Order 66. The story went that he had purposely gotten much of their battalion killed needlessly while trying to retake a planet from the separatists. He was the one soldier in the battalion who would always go with what the general said, even when all the other soldiers said that he was bad. The straw that broke that bantha’s back was when he pitted his clone battalion against another, causing massive casualties to friendly fire. The Jedi was eventually detained after a long manhunt that resulted in even more clone casualties, and he was the one who executed him. Catra doubted that this story was actually true, she would’ve heard about it if it actually was. Apparently, this was somehow supposed to say that the Jedi are all deranged murderers that are too dangerous to be left alive, something Catra would say more accurately describes her current occupation. 

Catra was the next speaker, she walked up onto the platform, quietly giving a short congratulations to the speaker before her. She stepped up to the podium and took a look at the crowd, it was almost entirely the members of the stormtrooper and other military cores, but a few high-end political elites and aristocrats were in the mass as well. 

“Hello,” Catra said into the numerous microphones, her voice carried through the hundreds of speakers set up in front of the former monastery. “As you know, I fought alongside the 10th Brother in the battle of his unfortunate demise.” She tried to sound as somber as possible without sounding overly grief-ridden or sarcastic. She spun a story in which Adora, without saying her name of course, was some overwhelming, super-powered force master who she and the 10th Brother were no match for, and how she was just lucky to have made it out alive. This, of course, was untrue, she had even fought against this script, but both the Grand Inquisitor and Vader himself had insisted on this horrid retelling of events. “So I ask you all to keep our dearly departed brother in your hearts,” she said, coming to the close of her speech. “And to never forget the sacrifice he made for our great Empire.”

“ _ TO THE EMPIRE! _ ” the entire crowd shouted. 

* * *

Catra returned to  _ The Rebuker _ in a state of anticipation. She now had the complete freedom to do whatever she wanted, Hordak and his resourses were now explicitly under her command, Vader had made sure of that. Not to mention that Adora was on the other end of the tunnel. 

“Welcome back, commander,” Scorpia greeted her after Catra stepped out of the elevator. “How was the funeral?” 

“Boring,” Catra answered, walking up to the holoprojector. “Let’s get down to business. I first want to know why the Jedi was on Tatooine, this will help us predict her movements in the future. Put that ship she was on on top priority for capture, get someone to calculate the best reward, I don’t care how high it is. Get all stormtrooper squads under Moff Hordak’s command off the Dryden Vos hunt and onto this Jedi, we cannot waste any resources on this.”

“Yes, commander,” Scorpia replied. She turned and faced the rest of the bridge. “You heard the commander, let’s go, people!”

The crew stopped casually milling around the bridge and quickly flew into some task. Scorpia’s seemingly force-enhanced ability to make people do work was one Catra was beginning to appreciate more and more. 

Catra hated being a part of this cruel machine, but she had to admire its oddly beautiful efficiency. Each deck officer had some task that they always did that differed depending on what the larger task at hand was. All of these small tasks didn’t change much from mission to mission, but they always ended in the exact result they were going for. Anything less than total success was complete failure, and the Empire was no place for failure. 

There came a loud beeping from the holoprojector that yanked Catra back to reality. “Commander, who’s calling?” she asked. 

“Uhh…” Scorpia stopped going through some files and turned to another screen. “It’s… oh my. It’s Lord Vader, commander.”

“Put him though, then!” Catra snapped. The last thing she needed was Vader coming in. He was not known to grace someone with his good favor twice, let alone once. Catra was either the luckiest or the deadest cat in the Galaxy. Scorpia pushed the answer button and a hologram of Vader’s menacing helmet appeared. “Lord Vader,” Catra fell to one knee. “To what do I owe your graces?”

“I am fairly interested in your plan for the capture and execution of this new Jedi,” Vader said. “It is customary that I know what my inquisitor’s plan to do, and you are certainly not an exception to that.”

“Yes, Lord Vader,” Catra responded. “Currently I am looking into finding out why the Jedi was on Tatooine and if that can help us predict her moves in the future.”

“A wise move,” Vader complimented. “I will continue to be very interested in your search, and I will be expecting results. Do I make myself clear?”

That was a clear threat on her life. “Yes, Lord Vader,” Catra said. “I understand. I will not fail.”

“I hope so, for your sake,” Vader ended the call.

Scopia looked over at Catra, even though she was wearing a helmet that covered her entire face, it was painfully clear that she was very concerned for her. “Commander…” she stared. 

“I don’t need to hear it, captain,” Catra snapped. “Let’s just get this right.” But that was something she knew she could not do. Vader had specifically requested the execution of Adora, the one thing Catra would never dream of. She was doomed and she knew it. She would either die to Adora’s fury or Vader’s wrath, and she didn’t know which was worse. 

Catra out of the bridge adn to the elevator. The doors opened and she stepped inside. “Keep me updated,” she commanded as the doors slid shut. 

* * *

Hordak was extremely nervous. He was heading on a visit to Mustafar on the Emperor’s orders. He had heard that people never returned after being sent there. He knew these rumors were untrue, but everyone he met who had been sent there had changed, as if they had suffered from a great trauma.

His shuttle emerged out of hyperspace to a small, angry-red planet. The ship flew down to a landing platform next to a tall, black spire on a cliff. Hordak could see a river of lava that flowed off the cliff running underneath the building he was about to walk into. 

Hordak walked down the ramp of the shuttle and he was instantly blasted by how hot this place was. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised, he was surrounded by glowing orange lava. He walked through the tall, intimidating archway that surrounded the entrance. 

Hordak’s eyes adjusted to the sudden drop in light, and he saw that the entire room was just a long walkway a few meters above the lava river. He gulped. He didn’t care how wide the walkway was, there were no guardrails. Walking across it, Hordak felt like he could be blown off of it at any moment, which, he supposed, was how you were meant to feel. 

As Hordak reached the center of the walkway, which thankfully was a much wider circle, a door opened on the opposite end. A black silhouette emerged and began moving down the walkway. 

Hordak immediately recognized the shape, this was Vader. He began to panic. ‘ _ I thought I already had my fill with him, why am I here? _ ” he thought. ‘ _ Is he going to kill me? He’s going to kill me! _ ’ 

If he was going to die, Hordak was not going to let Vader have the satisfaction of seeing him cowering on his knees, begging for mercy. He straightened himself, trying to look as professional as possible. 

“You can stop your facade of confidence, Moff,” Vader said. “I can practically taste the fear radiating off of you.”

Hordak’s posture fell. He should’ve known that wouldn’t work. “My lord,” he began.

“I will be the one talking here, Moff,” Vader interrupted. “I find that you thought you had the authority to command one of  _ my _ inquisitors deceitful and greedy.”

“My lord, I-”

“And that fact that you tried to argue with a direct order from  _ me _ , it makes me doubt your loyalty, Moff,” Vader’s voice seemed to grow steadily louder. “I would consider ignoring a direct order failing a test of loyalty, do you not?”

“My lord, please, I-”

“You failed your Empire for the last time, Moff,” Vader’s voice sent a shockwave through Hordak’s brain. “And that is something that cannot go unpunished.”

“My lord, please!” Hordak got down on his knee. “I beg you, have mercy!”

“You should know asking that from me is pointless, Moff,” Vader raised his hand. 

Hordak felt a strange sensation around his neck. Quickly, he felt his throat close and his breath cut off. He tried to gasp for air and found he couldn’t. Something was preventing him from breathing. He grabbed at his neck but nothing was there. 

“This should teach you the real cost of failure, Moff,” Vader said. 

“Please,” Hordak weased. “Mercy!”

“You wish is my command,” Vader said. 

The last thing Hordak saw before he passed out was a sudden flash of red light. 

* * *

Catra stepped out of the elevator with a sense of paranoia. She had felt something strange on the ride down, as if there was great pain, but she was indifferent or was happy about it. Could her time with the Empire have numbed her to other’s suffering? Was she really that far gone?

Catra walked down the hallway to her office. The door slid open and she walked in. She walked over to her desk and practically fell into her chair. She laid her head down on her desk. There was a small clink sound when her helmet hit it. 

_ Sigh. _

After several minutes there was a knock on the door. 

“Come in,” Catra sighed. 

Scorpia walked in. “Hey, commander,” she said. “Are you doing alright?”

“Catra,” Catra groaned. 

“What?” Scorpia was clearly taken aback. 

“Catra,” Catra repeated. “That’s my name. And I’m fine, captain.”

“Oh, uh… okay,” Scorpia said. “Well, I’m glad that you’re fine,  _ Catra _ .” The emphasis on Catra’s name was clearly out of unfamiliarity rather than contempt, which was something new for Catra. “My name’s Scorpia, by the way.”

“Thanks for checking on me,  _ Scorpia _ ,” Catra replied. She lifted her head off her desk. “This isn’t going to be easy, so thanks for sticking with me so far.”

“It’s my job, Catra,” Scorpia said. Catra sighed again. It feels like people in the Empire only do things because it’s their job. “Also,” Scorpia continued. “I thought you should know that Hordak died.”

“ _ WHAT? _ ” Catra quickly stood up. 

“Yeah, it’s crazy!” Scorpia said. “It seems like it was some sort of freak accident.” 

“Scorpia, close the door!” Catra ordered. 

“Okay…?” Scopira hit a button and the door slid shut. 

“Listen to me!” Catra whispered. “It was definitely not a freak accident, Vader had just chewed him out before we got to Coruscant! Knowing him, he probably executed Hordak!”

“Why are you telling me this?” Scorpio asked. 

“Because we’ve been working together for a while,” Catra answered. “I’m too heavily associated with you, if I go down, you’re going to be thrown in with me! We  _ have _ to get this right!”

“Alright,” Scorpia let out a deep breath. “So what do we do?”

“Try to keep as much attention off of us as possible!” Catra answered. “The higher profile we get, the worse we’ll be punished if we fail. There is  _ no _ room for error! Also, we cannot refer to each other by name in front of other people. Do you understand?”

“I do, commander.”

“Alright,” Catra stood up straight. “Then let’s begin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 11. I know this got kind of dark, but we have to get stakes at some point.  
> Happy 2021! Thank God that this awful year is over, even though time has no meaning and nothing will meaningfully change for a while.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles relating to this chapter (if you want):  
> [ Coruscant ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Coruscant)  
> [ Imperial Palace ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Imperial_Palace)  
> [ Mustafar ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mustafar)  
> [ Darth Vader's Castle ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Fortress_Vader#:~:text=Fortress%20Vader%2C%20also%20known%20as,Sith%20cave%20that%20still%20remained.&text=Momin%20then%20confronted%20Vader%20and,Vader%20in%20their%20brief%20duel.)


	12. The Heist (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After narrowly escaping from the  
> Empire on Tatooine, Adora Gray  
> must make a choice of what the  
> next step on her journey will be....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did change my username. That's all.

Adora’s brain was screaming at her. Now that her life wasn’t in immediate danger, her brain decided that it was a good time to start doing the equivalent of playing six different rock songs at the same time. Normally, Adora kind of liked rock music, but the “rock songs” she was listening to were all her scattered thoughts of what to do next. 

‘ _Should I seek out Yoda like Ben said?_ ’ she thought. ‘ _Should I just stay with the Best Friend Squad? Should I go and find Catra? What would I do if I found her? What does Catra mean to me now? Why can’t I get Catra’s face out of my head? Why were Catra’s eyes so beautiful?_ ’ 

“What’s happening to me?” Adora whispered into the darkness of her room. She was startled that the thought had escaped her mouth. ‘ _ I need to get more sleep. _ ’

* * *

The next morning, as much as there could be a morning in hyperspace, Adora walked out of her room feeling much more refreshed than the day before. However, there was now a nagging sensation that she hadn’t felt anything like in years. ‘ _ Well obviously, _ ’ she thought. ‘ _ Who… what were you literally just thinking about all night? _ ’ 

“Good morning, sleepy-head,” Bow chuckled. 

“What?” Adora rubbed her eye. 

“We've been debating whether or not to wake you up for like  _ three _ hours!” Glimmer laughed. 

“ _ WHAT? _ ” Adora shouted. “What time is it?”

“Well, it’s precisely eleven hours, fifty-eight minutes, and twenty-three seconds, since midnight,” Entrapta said, popping in from the engine room. Everyone glared at her. “Or… it’s right before noon if you’re not a droid.” she turned back to the engine room. “ _ EMILY! _ Run the test again!”

Everyone sighed. 

“Are we okay with that?” Adora asked, pointing at Entrapta. 

“She wouldn’t blow up the ship,” Bow answered. 

“Intentionally,” Glimmer finished. 

“Well…” Bow trailed off. 

Adora rolled her eyes. 

“Anyway,” Glimmer said. “Can we talk about what happened yesterday? With the running away and the lightsaber duel and everything?”

“Yeah…” Adora started. “I don’t think I can explain that in a way that wouldn’t sound like, well, complicated Jedi stuff.”

“Fine,” Bow said. “But could you at least try?”

“I guess,” Adora shugged. She took a seat on one of the boxes. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but-”

“Just get one with it!” Glimmer shouted. 

“Fine!” Adora put her hands up. “Well, I felt a call through the force- Glimmer don’t interrupt me, I told you it would sound like this.” Glimmer slumped on her box and groaned. “So I followed it and it led me to an old Jedi master.”

“Ooh, what were they like?” Entrapta popped her head in again.

“Kind, but cheeky,” Adora answered. “And, well, I wouldn’t say old, more like greying. Anyway, I passed out in the desert and he saved me…” She told them about the Star Destroyer and the inquisitors, but neglected to mention Catra or the fact that she killed the other inquisitor. 

“Wow,” Glimmer said. “So you weren’t wrong.” 

“Right,” Adora stared at the floor. “Now I have to figure out what to do next.”

“What do you mean?” Bow asked. “Are you leaving us?”

“Well…” Adora started.

“Oh my gods, you’re leaving us,” Bow’s eyes began to slightly water. “It’s okay, I can handle it.”

“Adora! How  _ dare _ you break Bow!” Glimmer wrapped her arms around the sniffling Mandalorian. Bow could be sensitive sometimes, but Glimmer was greatly exaggerating his distress. 

“Sorry!” Adora said. “But I might not be! Ben told me that there’s a Jedi master on Dagobah and that I should seek him out. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it!”

“For what it’s worth Adora,” Entrapta shouted. “I think it’s a great idea!”

“Uh… thanks?” Adora said. 

“You’re welcome!”

“So, you aren’t leaving?” Bow asked. 

“I don’t know!” Adora shouted. “I just need some time to figure this out!” She stormed off right back to her room. Unfortunately, the door had no way of slamming, so instead she punched it. Her knuckle started bleeding and she put it to her mouth. The salty taste of blood calmed her down somewhat, but she was still angry. 

“I need some clarity,” she whispered.

* * *

“Adora, are you sure about this?” Bow asked. “There’s no going back.”

“Bow, I’m sure,” Adora answered. “This is something I know I have to do. For what it’s worth, I'm going to miss you guys.”

“Just promise us that you’ll see us again,” Glimmer said. 

“I promise,” Adora responded. ‘ _ For what little worth my promises turn out to be, _ ’ she thought, remembering the day Catra left. She turned to head toward the city. 

“Adora, wait!” Entrapta shouted from deep within the ship. 

“Entrapta, you can’t change my mind!” Adora shouted back. 

“No, I meant I need to give you something!” Entrapta said, finally coming into the view of the cargo bay door. She extended her arm, revealing the small device she was holding. 

“What’s this?” Adora asked, taking it. 

“Communication device!” Entrapta responded gleefully. “I know you said that you continuing to be with us would only bring ourselves danger, but Bow needs to know that you’re alright.”

“Entrapta! I said to say ‘we’!” Bow shouted. 

Adora, Glimmer and Entrapta laughed. 

“He is right, though,” Glimmer said. “We all will need to know that you’re okay. We won’t message you, but every once once in a while, send us an update, okay?”

“I promise,” Adora said again, regretting her choice of words immediately. 

“We love you,” Bow said. 

“I love you guys too,” Adora responded. 

The cargo bay doors on Darla shut, as Bow tried to shout a few more sentimental things over the noise. Adora didn’t hear a word of it, but it was heartwarming nonetheless. She watched Darla take off and wondered if it would be the last time she saw the old ship. 

‘ _ Even if I do, it’s for the best, _ ’ Adora thought. ‘ _ My presence there only puts them in danger. _ ’ She pulled her hood up and walked out of the hangar. 

* * *

Corellia was the best place to buy a ship these days. It had been a major shipping yard during the time of the Republic, dwarfed only by Kuat Drive Yards when the Clone Wars began. Kuat was known for their production of military vehicles and it became the new number one. Now, Adora could see dozens of Imperial Star Destroyers being constructed in the sky above her as she walked down the street. It was a horrifying sight, the military might of the Empire was truly inescapable. 

Adora walked down the busy city streets in search of a ship vendor not associated with the Empire. She had enough money to buy a new ship, thanks to the overhaul in credits Dryden Vos had reluctantly handed over to them after myriad negotiations following the delivery on Tatooine. It was nice to finally have the money they were owed after the disaster that was the job they took on Garel, but Adora hated using the money they had earned for this. Though Bow, Glimmer and Entrapta seemed fine with it, and after all, they still had a little less than ten thousand credits left over, which was still more than enough money for the month. 

To Adora’s surprise, there seemed to be quite a few black market vendors, which was amazing, but none of them seemed to have any ships that could survive a jump to hyperspace. This may have been a mistake. She walked down a few more streets and the pattern continued, whatever ship dealers there were were either Imperial or only selling junk. 

‘ _ I could try my luck with the Imperial dealers, _ ’ Adora thought. ‘ _ I haven’t seen any wanted posters or bounty pucks for me anywhere. And if they do find out it’s me, well, they already want me dead, what’s one more offence? _ ’

But the mere thought of trying to steal a ship scared Adora. How the hell was she going to do this? Why the hell did she think that this was a good idea?

Adora ducked around a few stormtrooper patrolls, trying no to call attention to herself, which turned out to be ultimately pointless. 

“Hey, you!” one stormtrooper called before Adora could slip into another alleyway. “Let me see some identification!” 

A tactic that Adora has used to great effect on Tatooine was turning and running, which is exactly what she did here. She sprinted down the alleyway, trying to get out of sight before the stormtroopers could fire at her. She rounded the next corner and a few red blasts hit the opposite end of the wall, one made a hole in her grey cloak. She could hear the rushed footsteps of the pursuing soldiers over her pulse beating in her ears and decided that fighting might be the better option now. 

The stormtroopers rounded the corner to find a Jedi holding up a bright green lightsaber. The last thing they tried to do was call for backup, but having their heads removed from their necks significantly inhibited their ability to do that. The last soldier remaining had the opportunity to get half-way through saying the word “shit” before also being relieved of his own head as well. 

Adora stood still for a moment, checking to make sure there was no one else, and then retracted her lightsaber and re-attached it to her belt. She sprinted out of the alleyway and back out onto a main street. She slammed directly into a man in a long, brown trench coat, knocking both of them over. 

“Hey, watch it!” the man shouted. He had a mess of brown hair that was held back with a black headband and wore a ridiculous looking mustache. 

“Sorry!” Adora apologized, scrambling to her feet. 

“Hold on,” the man said, standing up. “You look like the right person for the job.”

“I’m sorry,” Adora said flatly. “But I should really be going.” She turned to leave. 

“What is it that you want?” the man asked. “Because you can have it if you do this for me.”

Adora’s interest peaked. “Anything?” she asked. 

“Within reason,” the man responded. “But that could be a lot, depending on how the job goes.”

“How about a YV-666 Light Freighter?” Adora asked smugly.

“You're asking too low,” the man answered. “But yes, I can get you that. My name’s Seahawk, pleased to meet you.” He extended his right arm.

“Is that your real name?”

“That’s not important!” Seahawk declared. 

“My name’s She’ra,” Adora shook Seahawk’s hand. She’ra was a pseudonym Adora had used for a few years after the Jedi purge, but she had stopped using it after she joined the Best Friend Squad. 

“Then we’re in business!”

* * *

Seahawk led Adora to a large apartment building in the heart of the city. The term ‘heart’ was a generous one because the area was largely destitute, along with every other area in the city. Seahawk led her up thirteen flights of stairs, apparently the elevator wasn’t an option, and to one of the rooms labeled 1302. Seahawk fumbled with his keys for a moment and then pushed the door open.

The apartment was small, much too small for actually living. It was a singular room with a small kitchenette and an even smaller refresher. There were three sleeping bags strewn across the floor and a rust holoprojector that flashed glitchy images of Imperial shipways. 

The most important things in the apartment were the two women sitting at the holoprojector. They were both about Adora’s height and had brown skin. One of them had dyed her hair blue while the other’s seemed to be a natural blonde. 

The blue-haired one groaned when Seahawk opened the door. “Ugh, you’re finally back,” she said. “Did you find that last person for the heist?”

“Yes I did Mermista!” Seahawk said excitedly. “This is She’ra.” She stepped out of the way, revealing Adora. 

“Uh, hi?” Adora said nervously. 

“Ugh!” Mermista groaned again. She was hammering her fist on the controls of the holoprojector. “Why won’t this damn thing work?”

“Hi,” the other woman waved her hand at Adora. “I’m Perfuma, it’s nice to meet you. Sorry for Mermista.”

“No, it’s fine,” Adora said. “There are some way worse people out there.”

“And we’re going to rob those way worse people!” Seahawk loudly proclaimed. “I’m assuming that we’re talking about the Empire here.”

“Hawk! Keep it down!” Mermista whispered. “Do you want the whole planet knowing that we’re about to do something highly illegal? Also, is the new girl over here good with committing acts of treason?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” Adora responded. “The Empire already wants my head on a pike, it can’t get worse than that.”

“Trust me,” Mermista said without looking at Adora. “It can get much,  _ much _ worse.”

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Perfuma interjected. “We should get going. Seahawk, what did you promise our new friend She’ra?”

“A YV-666,” Adora answered.

“‘Hawk!” Mermista shouted. “That’s  _ way _ over our price-range!”

“Sorry.” Seahawk nervously said. “But I-”

“I have credits if you can’t pay for it,” Adora interrupted. 

“Ugh, fine!” Mermisted groaned. “Let’s just get this over with.”

* * *

The Correllian sun was just starting to set as Adora, Seahawk, Mermista and Perfuma walked out of the apartment building. By the time they had arrived at their destination, one which Adora had not been privy to beforehand, the sun had fully dropped below the horizon. 

They were standing in front of the tall gates to an Imperial shipyard, one currently manufacturing Star Destroyers and other machines of war. 

“So, what exactly are we doing?” Adora asked. “You haven’t exactly told me yet.”

“My friend, we are going to steal a ship,” Seahawk answered. “Or, I guess two ships because I agreed to give you one. Anyway…”

“The shipyard has shut down for the night, but there are still guards everywhere,” Mermista explained. “We need someone to suit down the security system while everyone else goes and gets the ships.”

“I believe  _ I _ was going to be the one to shut down the security system,” Perfuma said timidly. 

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Mermista responded. “It doesn’t matter, we just need it off. She’ra, when you see the ship you want, just take it and leave. We don’t need you after that.”

“Uh… thanks?” Adora said. 

“Alright, on to advent-!” Seahawk began. 

“Nope! Not again!” Mermista slapped her hand to Seahawk’s mouth. “You aren’t immediately giving us away like last time.” 

“Sorry.”

“She’ra, you look pretty strong,” Mermista said. 

“Uh… sure?” Adora replied. 

“Cool, lift this gate so flower girl can get under it,” Mermista ordered.

“Okay…” Adora bent over and dug her hands into the dirt and under the metal gate. She lifted as hard as she could, even using the force to some degree, but only a sliver of a crack opened under the gate. “Some help, please?” Adora grunted. 

“Ugh, fine,” Mermista and Seahawk joined in. They created enough of a crack for Perfuma to gracefully slide under. Once she was in, they lowered the gate as gently as they could. It made a small thud noise. 

* * *

Perfuma slipped under the poorly-constructed gate of the shipyard. None of the others could fit under, so it had to be her. “Wish me luck!”She whispered. 

“Just go!” Mermista hissed. 

Perfuma chuckled nervously. Then, she spotted the small building that looked like the control center and ran over to it as quietly as she could. She narrowly avoided all of the watchlights roaming around the premises. There were no guards, and the only person in the building was an officer asleep in his chair who she could see through the small open-air window. There was no way she could climb through that without waking him up. 

Perfuma pushed the button that opened the door. It just beeped at her and flashed red. Then she noticed a code-cylinder receiver right below the button. 

“Uh oh,” she whispered to herself. ‘ _ Where can I find a code-cylinder? _ ’ she thought. ‘ _ What person would- oh. _ ’ She noticed two pairs of them tucked into the beast pockets of the sleeping officer. 

Perfuma reached her arm through the narrow window, but she couldn’t reach the officer’s pocket. She tried to extend her arm as long as she could, but she didn’t come close. 

Perfuma sighed. “I swore I’d never do this again,” she whispered. “But here we go.” Supernatural energy flowed from her fingertips, energy that she hadn’t felt in years. One of the pairs of code-cylinders slowly flew out of the officer’s pocket and into Perfuma’s outstretched hand. Her eyes went wide with excitement, she was clearly surprised that she had done that. 

Perfuma slipped her arm out of the window. She stared at the small object in her hand, still not believing that she had done it. She inserted the code-cylinder into the notch and twisted it. The button turned green and she pressed it. The door loudly slammed open, the officer made a sound but remained asleep. Perfuma quietly tip-toed over to the consol. 

On the consol was an entire panel dedicated to security, as per the reputation of the Empire. Perfuma turned off all the switches as quietly as possible and she hoped that it wouldn’t alert anyone, even though she was doing this so they wouldn’t. She then pulled another lever and the gate opened. 

The loud sound woke up the officer suddenly and he stood up in surprise. “Who the hell are you?” he asked. 

“Uh…” Perfuma stammered. Then, she pulled out her blaster and shot him. 

The officer flew back into his chair and slumped over, a smoking hole permanently burned into his chest. 

“Damn, flower girl,” Mermista said when she got to the chamber. “I didn’t think you had that in you.”

“The Empire has done many horrific things and set this galaxy out of balance,” Perfuma replied. “I feel that this one time was justified.”

“Now that we’re in,” Seahawk pronounced, entering the chamber as well. “It’s time for adven-!”

“Still no,” Mermista shoved her hand in Seahawks face again. “Let’s get the ship and leave.”

* * *

“So, what exactly are you guys stealing?” Adora asked. The group was weaving past the numerous ships and searchlights that dotted the shipyard.

“A  _ Quasar Fire  _ class cruiser-carrier,” Seahawk answered. 

“A carrier?” Adora said. “You can’t operate one of those with four people!”

“I know,” Seahawk responded. “But you also can’t with three!” 

“So what’s your plan then?” Adora asked incredulously.

“Improvise!” Seahawk declared. “Now, onwards! To-”

“Stop” Mermista groaned. “For like five seconds, please!”

“Sorry.”

“Good,” Mermista replied. “Now, where are those damn carriers?”

“I think we’re still on the wrong half of the shipyard,” Perfuma said. “All I see here are starfighters.”

She was right, they were currently walking between two TIE fighters and they had just gone through a stretch of smaller facilities working on the twin-ion technology. 

“You guys have been studying this place for a while,” Adora said. “Where would the larger ships be?”

“I guess we’re in the southern block,” Mermista answered. “So we still need to get to the northern block.”

“Why didn’t we start there?” Adora asked.

“Because the control center was down there,” Perfuma replied. “And it was easier to gain access through here. Let’s get going.”

“Sure.” 

* * *

The boundary between the north and south blocks was loose. The only reason Adora could tell the difference was the stark difference in the size of the ships being produced, which were, to put it bluntly, much larger. The group walked past shuttles, freighters and…

“Ah, there it is!” Seahawk said. He ran over to a large, awkward-looking ship. Triangle shaped, with the bridge in the front and four docks underneath. Seahawk ran into the ship through one of these docks.

“I can’t believe you guys think it’s possible to steal this thing,” Adora said. “What do you need it for anyway?”

“Home base, starfighter transport,” Perfuma answered. “That stuff.”

“You guys have starfighters?” Adora asked incredulously.

“Well, not us,” Mermista replied. “But we have some good friends.”

“These good friends of your wouldn’t happen to be, how do I put this… Rebels?” Adora asked slyly. 

“Wait- how?” Perfuma sputtered. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“I’m literally robbing an Imperial shipyard and they have already given me the death sentence,” Adora said. “So, no, I won’t be telling anyone.”

“Haha… I guess you won’t,” Perfuma replied.

There was a loud beep on Mermista’s wrist. “Seahawk says to get on the ship,” she said. “We’re leaving.”

Suddenly, three, maybe four, bright lights loudly came on, directly in Adora’s eyes, and Perfuma’s, and Mermista’s. “Stay right where you are!” a voice shouted. “Drop your weapons and kneel with your hands behind your head!”

“Or… maybe not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 12. I was actually writing this as I watched the Star Wars: Rebels (which is a highly underrated and you should definitely watch it) episode where they steal one of those cruiser-carriers, and that's where I got the idea.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles relating to the chapter (if you are interested):  
> [ Corellia ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Corellia)  
> [ Kuat ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Kuat)  
> [ YV-666 Light Freighter ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/YV-666_light_freighter)  
> [ Quasar Fire Class Cruiser-Carrier ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Quasar_Fire-class_cruiser-carrier)


	13. The Heist (pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After making some new friends, Adora  
> finds herself and her compatriots caught  
> on site at an Imperial Shipyard....

“What do you think you’re doing?” a squad of stormtroopers were surrounding them. 

“Uuuuugh,” Mermista groaned. “Of course something _had_ to go wrong.”

“Drop your weapons!” the squad leader said. “On your knees!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m doing it,” Mermista took her blaster out of its holster and carefully laid it on the ground. Perfuma did the same. Adora didn’t.

“Are you crazy lady? I said drop your weapons!” the stormtrooper shouted.

Adora slowly unhooked the buckle on her holster and slowly dragged the blaster pistol out of it.

“Faster!” the trooper shouted.

“I’ll get there,” Adora’s blaster came free from its holster and she steadily placed it on the ground. 

“Hands behind your head!” the trooper ordered. Adora, Mermista and Perfuma obeyed. “Are there any more of you?”

“No…?” Perfuma answered.

“Was that a question?” the trooper asked. “Or an answer?”

“No, there aren’t any more of us!” Adora said quickly.

“Nice save, She’ra,” Mermista whispered in her ear. 

“Let’s hope Seahawk comes through for us then,” Adora replied.

Just then, the carrier violently shot upward, hovering a few meters above all of their heads. The stormtroopers stopped focusing on Adora, Mermista and Perfuma and started shooting at the ship. 

“I thought you said there weren’t more of you!” one of the troopers shouted.

“And you think we would’ve told you?” Adora asked. She scooped up her blaster and shot down two stormtroopers. 

Mermista’s wrist beeped again. “Guys, Seahawk says run toward the carrier!” she called. 

“What are we going to do, jump onto it?” Adora asked. “It’s ten meters in the air!”

“Just trust him!” Perfuma shouted. 

Adora, Mermista and Perfuma ran toward the hovering ship, but it flew forward, directly into the stormtroopers, crushing them with its weight. 

“Oh…” Mermista said absentmindedly.

“It looks like it’s time to go!” Adora shouted. 

* * *

More lights flicked on and focused on the carrier, flowing into the ship’s viewports and right into Seahawk’s eyes. Several red blaster bolts came at the ship from several different directions, shaking it violently. Seahawk spun the ship around, but couldn’t fire back. He lowered it so his approaching friends could get on board.

Mermista and Perfuma ran in through one of the hangars and up to the bridge. 

“Where’s our other friend?” Seahawk asked when they arrived. 

“I thought she was with us,” Perfuma answered. 

“Ugh, let’s leave her,” Mermista groaned. “We have what we came for, we don’t need her anymore.” 

“Mermista!” Perfuma shouted. “We can’t just leave her! We got her into this mess!” 

“Ugh, fine!”

“Can you two see if you can operate the guns?” Seahawk asked. “Shoot down what’s shooting at us before they shoot us down.”

“Gee, could you have phrased that any worse?” Mermista groaned. She and Perfuma exited the bridge. 

* * *

Adora was pinned behind a pile of boxes. Blaster bolts fired if she dared to stick anything out from behind it. 

“Surrender! We have you surrounded!”

“Never!” Adora grabbed one of the boxes with the force and threw it in the general direction of the voice. She heard a few grunts and slams. “A few down…” Five more squads came into the light, on her side of the boxes. “Way too many to go. I guess I have no choice…” She pulled out her lightsaber and ignited it. 

“She’s a Jedi!” one of the troopers called. “Blast her!”

“I’m starting to get sick of hearing that…” Adora muttered. She charged forward, cutting down the first two stormtroopers. From there, she started blocking the incoming blasts and cutting down any other troopers that strayed too close. Twirling her lightsaber may have looked fancy, but wasn’t going to be effective for long. 

“Get this to high command!” one of the troopers shouted into their comm.” We have a rogue Jedi on the premises! Call in reinforcements!” 

Adora threw another box, knocking down three more stormtroopers. She ran around to the other side of the pile to find the carrier, it was wildly firing from two of the turbo-laser turrets. It was quickly getting more and more attention from laser fire. One particularly nasty shot ripped a large hole on the right wing. 

Adora retracted her lightsaber and ran toward the floating ship. 

* * *

“Seahawk, get us out of here!” Mermista shouted into her comm. 

“I’m trying!” Seahawk replied. “These controls are…” Another blast rocked the ship. “Very tricky!”

“Looks like I can help,” a voice came from the elevator. 

“She’ra!” Seahawk cheered. “Take the other seat and help us get this ship up!”

“Right!” She’ra ran up and hopped into the seat next to Seahawk. 

“Pull up!” Seahawk shouted. 

“Workin’ on it!”

She’ra and Seahawk pulled the controls and maneuvered the carrier upward. More blasts came from the surface, a few glazing off the edge of the ship, shaking it slightly. 

“Where are those coming from?” Seahawk asked. 

“It looks like there are a few walkers on the surface,” She’ra replied. “We’ll need to take those out if we want to get out of here.”

“There’s a TIE fighter parked in one of the hangars,” Seahawk said. “Mermista! Can you get that?”

“Ugh, fine,” Mermista replied over comm. “This better not kill me.”

A few moments later, Seahawk heard the distinct roaring sound and saw a TIE fighter fly out from under the bridge. 

“There’s no shield on those things,” She’ra said. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Don't worry,” Seahawk replied. “She’s as great a pilot as I!”

“Not giving me any confidence, there,” She’ra muttered. 

Seahawk ignored the comment and turned his focus back to flying. There was an explosion from off in the distance. 

“Are we happy about that one?” She’ra asked. 

“Mermista, are you okay?” Seahawk shouted into his comm. 

“I’m fine,” Mermista replied. “Try not to worry so much.”

Seahawk saw more green laser fire and another walker explode. 

“I’m definitely more confident now, Seahawk,” She’ra said. 

“Mermista, that should be good,” Seahawk said. “Get back to the carrier.”

“Ugh, I was just starting to have some fun.” Mermista groaned. “I’m coming.”

The TIE came into the light of the ship and into the hangar. A few moments later, the elevator door opened and Mermista ran out. “Miss me?” she said.

“My heart ached more and more each and every moment you were away!” Seahawk replied. He turned his chair to meet Mermista’s gaze.

“You’re sweet.”

“Hey, are you two going to make out or are we getting out of here?” She’ra asked, a strong hint of annoyance in her voice. 

“Right, right!” Seahawk turned his chair back. “Up, we’re flying up! Now, onward! To… can I say it?”

Mermista nodded. “Yes, you can say it, this time.”

“ _TO ADVENTURE!_ ” Seahawk shouted. 

“Perfuma, get back to the bridge,” Merista said into her comm. “We’re leaving.”

* * *

The ship flew steadily upward, eventually exiting to the upper atmosphere where three Star Destroyers greeted them. 

“This thing can’t take another hit,” Adora said. “We have to jump to hyperspace, now!”

“Does this thing even have enough juice to make the jump?” Mermista asked. 

All three Star Destroyers each deployed a few squadrons of TIE fighters and one squad of… something else. They looked like normal TIEs, but it’s wings were much different, they had four of them, and they were pointed forward.

“Let’s hope so,” Adora replied. “I don’t want to stay and find out what _that_ thing is.”

“I heard the Imperials talking about a new TIE model,” Perfuma said. “I think it’s called an Interceptor.”

“Looks like we have enough for one jump,” Adora said. “Where to?”

“Alderaan,” Seahawk replied. The TIE started firing, loud blasts of green light flooded the viewport. Every blast that hit the ship rocked it violently. “Go, go, go!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” Adora growled. “Taking evasive action!” She sharply veered the ship to the left. 

“This wreck can’t take another hit!” Mermista shouted. 

HYPERSPACE CALCULATIONS COMPLETE, READY TO JUMP.

“It won’t be taking one,” Adora smiled. She pulled the lever, the stars stretched into lines, and space warped itself around them. 

* * *

“I’ve got an incoming holotransmission,” Seahawk said. “I’m putting it through.” He plugged his comm into the ship’s circuit board, and a hologram appeared of a bearded man in a grey suit. 

“Senator Organa,” Perfuma said. “We captured the ship and we’re on our way to you.”

“Glad to hear,” Organa replied. “I see you made a new friend.” 

“We did,” Mermista scoffed. “She was okay.”

“I was better than okay!” Adora shouted. “Senator, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard about the work you do against the Empire.”

“I sure hope not,” Organa chuckled. “Can’t have too many people knowing about that.”

“Don’t worry senator,” Adora replied. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

“Enough chit-chat,” Mermista growled. “The ship’s severely damaged and we’re out of fuel.”

“We can fix that,” Organa said. “It’s much easier to fix a ship than to build a completely new one.” 

“That is true, my friend,” Seahawk put his feet up on the consol. “We did encounter the Empire’s new ship. The TIE Inducer.”

“TIE Interceptor,” Perfuma corrected.

“That’s the one,” Seahawk declared. “We fought them off bravely, destroyed every last one of them!”

“Seahawk, they shot at us, and we ran away,” Mermista growled. 

“Same difference.”

“Anyway,” Organa rolled his eyes. “The TIE Interceptor is not that new, but they were only used for elite personnel from what I’ve heard. If you saw an entire squadron, that doesn't mean good things for our cause.”

“We look forward to our rendezvous with the rest of the fleet,” Perfuma said. “And we hope this carrier will be as helpful as we hoped.”

“I do too,” Organa replied. “Until then.” His hologram disappeared. 

“Wait, the fleet?” Adora asked incredulously. 

“Yeah, Senator Organa has been secretly supplying our rebel cell with anything and everything since day one,” Perfuma answered. “But calling it a fleet is a little generous.” She scratched the back of her head.

“It’s good to know there’s some other people fighting against them,” Adora said.

“You’re a rebel too?” Seahawk asked.

“Not exactly…” 

* * *

The carrier emerged from hyperspace above Alderaan. The sight of a small fleet made up of a Blockade Runner and some CR-90 Corvettes greeted them. 

“You were right, Perfuma,” Adora chuckled. “The word ‘fleet’ is generous.”

“ _Quasar Fire Class Cruiser-Carrier, welcome home,_ ” a voice came from the ship’s console. “ _We’ll guide you on your entry into the atmosphere, follow the_ Tantive IV _._ ”

“Copy that,” Seahawk replied. The Blockade Runner turned back toward the planet, a gesture for them to follow. 

* * *

Adora and Seahawk maneuvered the ship down to a landing platform on the side of a snow-capped mountain. Next to the platform was a spire that looked like it was made of vertical brass pipes. 

Adora, Seahawk, Mermista and Perfuma hopped out of one of the carrier’s hangars.

Adora shivered, this was much colder than she was used to. 

“You okay, She’ra?” Perfuma asked. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Adora replied. “Just a little cold.”

“I mean, we are in the mountains,” Perfuma said. “I don’t know what you were expecting.”

Organa exited the _Tantive IV_ from the ramp to meet them. “Captain Antilles,” he said. “Get a repair squad up here to get our new carrier back up to scratch.”

“Yes sir,” Captain Antilles replied. He ran off to the building next to the platform. 

“I would like to thank our new friend for helping me team proquer this carrier,” Organa said brightly. “Could I ask you to consider joining our efforts against the Empire?”

“Thanks for the offer,” Adora replied. “But I have some other things I need to do.”

“And it looks like you’re in need of a ship,” Organa commented. 

“Yeah, I guess I do,” Adora scratched the back of her head. 

“She’ra said she needed a YV-666,” Seahawk interjected. 

“And I can provide that, She’ra,” Organa chuckled. “May I ask where you plan to venture.”

“Uh… the Dagobah system, I think,” Adora answered. 

“Dagobah…” Organa scratched his chin. “May I speak with you, in private?”

“Sure?”

Adora followed Organa into the spire. ‘ _Ah,_ ’ she thought. ‘ _Much warmer in here._ ’

“It’s interesting that you plan to go to Dagobah,” the Senator said. “I’ve only known one other person who went to that system.”

“Well maybe that’s who I’m looking for,” Adora replied. 

“If that is so,” Organa said. “Then you are looking for someone who does not wish to be found.”

“He probably doesn’t,” Adora answered. ‘ _Could this guy really be talking about Yoda?_ ’ she thought. 

“I’ve known Master Yoda since long before the start of the Clone Wars,” Organa told Adora. “I hope that you find what you’re looking for with him, Jedi.”

“How did you know?” Adora asked, stunned. 

Organa chuckled. “I just answered that,” he replied. “But in truth, I guessed. I do appear to be very lucky though.”

“I guess knowing a Jedi as powerful as Master Yoda is pretty lucky,” Adora smiled. “And my real name is Adora,”

Well Adora, good luck on your journey,” Organa said. “And may the force be with you.”

“May the force be with you too,” Ador turned to leave. 

“One more thing,” Organa interrupted. 

“What is it?” Adora asked. 

“If you’re going off on your own,” Organa started. “You’re going to need a droid, an astromech, preferably. I’ll talk to Captain Antilles and see if we can lend you a spare.”

“Thanks,” Adora replied. "But that's really not necessary, any of it, in fact."

“I insist,” Organa smiled. "Anything for the Jedi."

* * *

Adora exited the atmosphere in her new YV-666 with her droid, a white and gold astromech named Swiftwind. She had insisted that she pay for it, but Senator Organa had none of it. 

“It’s a gift,” he had said. “It’s truly the least we can do.”

“Set a course for Dagobah,” Adora sighed. 

Swiftwind beeped excitedly in response. He plugged into the ship’s outlet and spun the manipulator to punch in the coordinates to the system. 

“Guess I’m going to have to get used to that,” Adora muttered. 

HYPERSPACE CALCULATIONS COMPLETE, READY TO JUMP. 

“Punch it!”

Swiftwind spun the manipulator again. The stars stretched into lines and space wrapped itself around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I Hope you enjoyed chapter 13. Did somebody say SWIFTWIND?!  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles related to the chapter (if you want to):  
> [ TIE Interceptor ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/TIE/IN_interceptor)  
> [ Alderaan ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Alderaan)  
> [ Senator Organa ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Bail_Prestor_Organa)  
> [ Captain Antilles ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Raymus_Antilles)


	14. The Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After receiving a new ship and droid  
> from Senator Bail Organa, Adora Gray  
> travels to Dagobah to meet with a  
> mysterious Jedi master....

Adora’s new ship emerged out of hyperspace to the sight of a swampy-green planet. 

Swiftwind beeped in an indeterminate tone. 

“Hey, Swiftwind,” Adora said. “I can’t understand that. Could you like, I don’t know, send a message to the ship’s console or something.”

Swiftwind beeped again and plugged his manipulator into the ship’s outlet. Adora sighed as he spun away at the port. There was a beep on the console and Adora turned to look at it. There was a message, it read:  _ We’re here. _

“Thanks, buddy,” Adora patted Swiftwind’s golden dome. “I’m sure we’ll figure something better out, eventually.”

Another message. It read:  _ You better, I have a lot to say. _

“I’m sure you do, Swifty, Adora replied. “Can I call you ‘Swifty’?”

Another message:  _ Yes. _

“Alright,  _ Swifty _ ,” Adora said. “Prepare to enter the atmosphere.”

* * *

Adora brought the ship town to just above the tree-level. “It’s a whole mess down there,” she said. “And Yoda could be anywhere on this planet.”

A message on the consol:  _ You didn’t think this though, did you? _

“Shut up!” Adora replied. “I have an idea. Keep the ship steady, will you?”

Swiftwind beeped in response. 

“I guess that means yes,” Adora muttered. She noted the tone and inflection of the beep and stored that in her mind as ‘yes’ in the astromech language. 

Adora held out her hand and closed her eyes, concentrating. She tried to focus on finding a being who was incredibly strong with the force, one who was older than many of the trees in the swamp itself. She waited, but felt nothing, or maybe, it was everything. She concentrated harder, pushing all the energy she could into locating the exiled master. ‘ _ He may not want to be found, _ ’ she thought. ‘ _ One as powerful as him could definitely shield himself from any detection. _ ’

“No,” Adora whispered. “I have to find him.” 

Adora continued to feel nothing, but this feeling was too intense for it to be nothing. ‘ _ Wait, I’m not sensing nothing, _ ’ she realized. ‘ _ I’m feeling… everything. _ ’ She quickly opened her eyes. 

“I know where he is,” Adora said. “Turn twelve degrees to the right, then keep flying.”

Swiftwind beeped in surprise, but steered the ship anyway and kept flying. 

* * *

Adora set down the ship as gently as she could on a somewhat stable-looking bank. It seemed to be about midday. She walked down the ramp of the ship and the first thing she noticed was the stench. The swamp smelled of rotting fish and she dared not look in the water, for fear of actually finding one. Adora was not known for her control over her gag reflex. 

Then, she was blasted by the humidity of the swampy world. She quickly took her red jacket off and tied it around her waist. She was almost happy about that, only wearing a tank-top let her show off her muscles, which, by the way, were definitely bigger than Bow’s thank you very much. She just felt… freer this way, as if the weight of everything going on was just lifted off of her. 

They were parked right next to an old-looking hut, which had a flickering light coming from inside and smoke coming out of an improvised chimney. ‘ _ Big downgrade from the bedrooms at the Jedi Temple, _ ’ Adora thought. “Hello?” she called. “Master Yoda?”

There was no response. 

Adora walked carefully closer to the hut. “Hello?” she called again.

“Away, you must go,” a low squeaky voice came from inside the hut. Adora knew that voice, every youngling in the Jedi Temple had heard it thousands of times. 

“Master Yoda!” Adora exclaimed. “Thank the Force I found you! Ben sent me-”

“Away, I said!” Master Yoda shouted. He appeared in the doorway and raised his hand. Adora was thrown back onto the ramp of her ship. 

Swiftwind rolled right up to Adora’s head and let out a beep that sounded  _ way _ too close to a laugh for Adora’s taste. “Thanks, Swifty,” she growled. She dropped herself off the ramp onto the mucky ground and stood up. 

“Why?” she asked.

“The Sith,” Yoda replied. “Too much of a threat, they are. At once, you must leave.” He turned back to his hut

“But that’s why I came here,” Adora called. “I need your help.”

“And not have it, you shall,” Yoda called back. “In hiding, I am. Do the same, you should.”

“You’re hiding on a planet so strong with the Force it’s impossible to detect you!” Adora shouted. “It was a miracle I was able to find you here!”

Yoda paused, then turned. “Smarter than you look, you are,” he smiled. He guestered to Adora with his cane. “Come, come! Been a while since I had guests, It has.”

“Smarter than I look? What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” Adora mumbled. She turned to Swiftwind. “Stay in the ship, will you, buddy?”

Swiftwind beeped in reply and turned back up the ramp and into the ship. 

* * *

Adora ducked into the small doorway of the hut. It was a cozy space, as cozy as a place could be in the middle of a swamp, Adora had to squat just to fit in the place. The only light in the hut was the flickering fire in the back, which was also the stove. 

Yoda ladled whatever he was brewing in his cauldron into… Adora couldn’t tell if it was a cup or bowl. He picked the dish, whatever it was, and took a big gulp, downing the entire thing. “Ah,” he sighed. “Nothing like frog stew, there is.”

Adora had never wanted to vomit more in her life, and the smell of the swamp certainly didn’t help. She covered her mouth and nearly keeled over in disgust. “No,” she gagged. “Definitely not.”

“Oh,” Yoda’s eyes went wide. “Rude of me, that was. Like some, would you?”

“No, no!” Adora answered. “I’m…” she performed a mix between a gag and a cough. “I’m good, really.”

Yoda shrugged. “Your loss, that is,” he said. “But, afraid I am that stew the only thing to offer, I have.”

“What?” Adora exclaimed. “But Ben said that he couldn’t help me, but you could. And you said that I was smart and invited me inside. I was hoping for something more than frog stew.”

“Calling himself ‘Ben’, Obi-wan is?” Yoda said.  _ That was Obi-wan back on Tatooine? _ “Wise, Kenobi is, but wrong he was. Help you, I cannot. All I have to offer, frog stew is.” He chuckled to himself. 

‘ _ I really came all this way for nothing, _ ’ Adora worried. ‘ _ I can’t afford to leave empty-handed. _ ’ “Can you at least give me some advice?” she asked. 

“Need advice on what, do you?” Yoda responded. 

“My friend…” Adora started. “My former friend, that is, is now an inquisitor hunting me. I don’t know what to do.” 

“Quite a pickle, that is,” Yoda laughed. 

“Hey!” Adora yelled. “This isn’t funny! She tried to kill me! Twice!”

“Said it yourself, you did,” Yoda said.

“I don’t understand,” Adora replied. 

“ _ Former _ friend, you said,” Yoda clarified. “Forbidden, attachments are. Let go of you, she has. Do the same, you must.”

“But I can’t!” Adora shouted.

“Why not?”

“I… don’t know,” Adora answered. “I… I can’t explain it.” She had explained it, at least to herself, before: she and Catra were, or had been, friends, best friends, even, but that didn’t describe it for Adora. They had always felt like something more to her, she was sure Catra felt the same about it, like they were  _ meant _ to be with each other. Adora unfortunately hadn’t found a way to describe it better, despite her best efforts. 

“Dangerous, that is,” Yoda warned. “An apprentice, Obi-wan had, and corrupted by his attachments, he was. Stands as  _ Darth Vader _ now, he does.”

“Obi-wan trained Vader?” Adora asked in surprise. 

“Yes,” Yoda answered. “Tricked and exploited by the Emperor, Vader was. Allow yourself the same to happen to you, do not. Your greatest weakness, your attachments are.”

“I… I understand,” Adora said. “I’ll… I’ll try to let go.”

“No!” Yoda shouted. “Do, you must. Do, or do not, there is no try!”

“You always said that at the temple,” Aodar complained. “But it never made sense.”

“Explain it to you, I cannot,” Yoda replied. “Discover the meaning for yourself, you must, and, in time, you will.”

“Great,” Adora sighed. “Real helpful.”

Yoda laughed. “Come,” he said. “Outside, we must go. See there is more to your problems, I do.”

“Wait, you’re helping me?” Adora asked, spurprised. 

“Dire, your situation is,” Yoda answered. “More help than you think, you need.” He laughed again. 

“Hey!” Adora shouted.

“Outside!” Yoda pointed with his stick. 

* * *

“So, what’re we doin’?” Adora asked when they exited the hut, “Some advanced Force techniques?”

“Yes,” Yoda nodded. 

“Oh! Really?” Adora said. 

“Yes,” Yoda repeated. “Guided meditation, we must do.”

“ _ Oh _ … really?” Adora’s face fell. 

“Yes,” Yoda said for the third time and sat on the ground, his legs crossed. 

Adora sat down too, and the ground made a wet squishing sound as she did. She was now  _ very _ thankful that her jacket was tied around her waist, the last thing she needed was swamp water soaking through her pants. “So, what now,” she asked. 

“Close your eyes,” Yoda answered. “On your lost friend, you must concentrate.”

Adora closed her eyes and pictured Catra in her mind, the younger her, back at the Temple. The shaggy mane of dark brown hair, the robe she had ripped the sleeves off of herself. 

“No,” Yoda said. “On the Catra you knew, do not picture. An inquisitor, she is. On that version, you must focus.”

The picture of Catra in Adora’s mind shifted. No longer the rambunctious child who was full of hope, but now, she was taller, dressed in a black military uniform and twisted by hate, twisted by the Dark Side. Her pointed helmet was laid on the ground next to her, grey, metal ground. She was on the bridge of an Imperial Star Destroyer. 

“See, what do you?” Yoda asked. 

“I see her,” Adora answered. “She looks… sad, I think.”

“Sad, why is she?” Yoda continued. 

“I.. I don’t know,” Adora responded. 

“Focus…” Yoda said.

“I’m trying!” Adora hissed. 

More of Catra’s surroundings came into the picture. The bridge was empty, none of the posts had anyone at them, except Catra, who was standing right in front of the window. She raised her arm and spoke into a comm. Adora didn’t expect to hear what Catra said, but the Force, as if it wasn’t mysterious enough, showed her Catra’s words. 

“Adora,” Catra said. She sounded… scared? Adora had only seen Catra scared once before. “I can’t leave, Adora. We could’ve been together, Adora, but you rejected my offer.” Then her surroundings suddenly exploded and the vision ended. 

Adora’s eyes flew open with a gasp.  _ What the hell was that? _

“See, what did you?” Yoda asked. 

“I- I saw  _ her _ ,” Adora stuttered. “She- she told me I rejected her offer… and then…”

“Happened, then what?” 

“She- she exploded,” Adora gasped. 

“Hm,” Yoda scratched his chin. “Visions, tricky they can be. But an obvious answer, this has. Sure of its meaning, I cannot be.”

“But what is the obvious answer?” Adora asked. 

“The Dark said, easy, it may seem,” Yoda started. “But consume you, it will. Offer for you to join her, she may. Refuse this, you must.”

“ I know, I know,” Adora replied. 

“Something else, I sense,” Yoda continued. “Compelled by her words, were you?”

“No! I-” Adora shouted. “I… she seemed scared. I don’t know… it seemed like she needed help.”

“Help, she does need,” Yoda replied. “But for her, too late it is. Evil, her way is now.”

“So I should just give up on her?!” Adora asked, outraged. 

“Given up on you, she has,” Yoda answered. “Be giving up, you would not, letting go, you would be.”

“It doesn’t feel like that,” Adora mumbled. To her, it oddly felt like Catra  _ hadn’t _ given up on her. She  _ had _ killed the other inquisitor before he could do the same to her, and she stopped pursuing Adora when her friends had arrived. But maybe she was reading too much into something that wasn’t there. “It’s… complicated.” 

“These days, complicated, everything is, hm?” Yoda laughed. 

“Yeah…” Adora scratched the back of her head. 

“Meditate on this vision, you must,” Yoda said. “Help you let go of her, this will.”

“Right…”

Suddenly, Swiftwind, came violently rolling down the ship’s ramp while beeping wildly. 

Adora quickly stood up. “Sorry, Swifty!” she shouted. “I still can’t understand you!”

“Understand your droid, you cannot,” Yoda chuckled. “How embarrassing, how embarrassing.”

“What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” Adora turned to the old master. 

Yoda laughed. “A connection to him, you can make,” he explained. “Teach you I can.”

“Really!?”

“Lie, why would I?” Yoda asked. 

“I guess you wouldn’t…” Adora answered. “Let’s try- right,  _ there is no try _ . Let’s do it!”

“Learning, you are,” Yoda smiled. “Come, go to your droid, let us. Move in the swamp, he cannot.”

Adora walked up the ramp and crouched to be on Swiftwind’s level. “Hey, hey! Swifty! What’s wrong?” she asked. 

Swiftwind stopped beeping and opened one of his panels. He stuck out one of his naipulators and Adora saw that he was holding her holocommunicator, it was also beeping. 

“Can you display it?” Adora asked. 

Swiftwind beeped and started projecting. A blue figure of Glimmer appeared. “Hello? Adora?” she called. “Can you hear me?”

“Glimmer! I can hear you!” Adora answered. 

“Adora!” Glimmer said. “Thank the force you picked up, I was starting to think you weren’t going to.”

“Glimmer, what’s wrong?” Adora asked. “I told you not to contact me unless it was an emergency.”

“Well it kind of is!” Glimmer shouted. There was a loud bang, Glimmer shook and the hologram picked up a lot of static. “We kind of got stuck in the middle of a battle and our hyperdrive got damaged! The Empire was fighting with a group of rebels and now they think we’re with them!”

“Where are you?” Adora said. “If you're close I think I could…”

“We’re in the Lothal system!” Glimmer answered. “Hurry please!”

“I’m coming!” Adora replied. “Don’t worry! C’mon Swifty!” She started to run up the ship. 

“Wait!” Yoda called. Adora stopped. “Too far away, you are. A week to reach them, it would take you.” 

“Well I have to try!” Adora replied. 

“And fail, you will!” Yoda shouted. “Stay, you must.”

Adora sighed. “Swifty, put the communication back through,” she said. Swifty brought back up the hologram of Glimmer. “I’m sorry, Glimmer, but I can’t get to you for a week. I ran into a group of rebels recently, they might be the same group. Tell them you’re friends with ‘She’ra’.”

“Okay,” Glimmer replied. “I guess we should’ve thought of that earlier.”

“May the Force be with you,” Adora said. 

“May the Force be with you, too,” Glimmer disappeared. 

“I hope they’re okay,” Adora muttered. “I don’t even know if it’s the same group of rebels.”

“But better than the Empire, they will be, if nothing else, hm?” Yoda asked. “Safe, your friends will be, feel it, I can.”

“I guess…” Adora answered. 

“Now, to communicate with your droid, I will teach you,” Yoda said. 

“Oh, yeah!” Adora got a goofy look of realization on her face. “I completely forgot about that.” 

Yoda chuckled. “Work on that too, we may have to,” he replied. “Now,” he grabbed Adora’s hand and placed it on Swiftwind’s shiny gold dome. “Through all living things, the Force flows, including doids, this does.”

“I didn’t know that,” Adora said. 

“Much to learn, you still have,” Yoda commented. “Now, on the energy of the Force in this droid, you must focus. A connection between yourself and him, you must make.”

Adora sealed her eyes shut and tried to focus, she really did, but nothing happened. “I can’t sense anything,” she said. “He’s only mechanical, there’s nothing of the Force there!”

“No,” Yoda wacked Adora on the back with his stick. 

“Ow!” Adora shouted and rubbed the spot where Yoda had hit her. “What was that for?”

“Focusing on the wrong thing, you are,” Yoda said. “Mechanical, he may be, but thinks, he does, feels, he does. On his thoughts and emotions, you must focus.”

“Okay,” Adora placed her hand back on Swiftwind and closed her eyes. His thoughts and emotions weren’t as defined as a normal being’s. But they were there, they were just harder to feel. They were read like encrypted data, Adora supposed that made sense, he was a droid after all.

Eventually, Adora found that she could understand Swiftwind’s emotions, not exactly, but a general idea, and one that gave enough to know what caused it. It became apparent that Swiftwind could feel Adora sifting through his emotions. But emotions wouldn’t allow them to communicate perfectly, but they might be enough. 

“Say something,” Adora commanded. 

Swiftwind beeped, still an incoherent string of sounds, but one Adora understood the meaning of. Swiftwind had said something along the lines of: “Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” Adora responded. “ I can hear you.”

“Good, now open your eyes,” Swiftwind beeped. 

“What?”

“Yeah, open your eyes, and also turn around.”

Adora lifted her hand off Swiftwind and turned around. Five tall, pointed rocks were levitating in front of them and Master Yoda was meditating on the middle one. 

“What are you doing?” Adora asked. 

“Me?” Yoda responded. “Doing nothing, I am. Lifting the rocks, you are.”

“But… but I wasn’t-” Adora started. 

“Strange, the ways of the Force are,” Yoda interrupted. “A strong connection, through the Force, was made, and respond, the Force did.”

“So if you’re not the one lifting them, am I?” Adora asked. “I sure don’t feel like I am.”

The rocks slowly lowered themselves back to the ground. Yoda hopped off the one he was sitting on and walked over to Adora. “Lifting the rocks, you were not,” he said. “A strong connection to the Force, this planet has. Act on its own here, the Force can.”

“Amazing…” Adora replied absentmindedly.

“One more trial for you, I have,” Yoda said. “But warn you, I must, dangerous it is. Up to it, are you?”

“I can do it,” Adora answered. “I’ve succeeded at the last ones, haven’t I?”

“Done that, you have,” Yoda replied. “But in ways you never have been before, this will test you.”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Adora said. 

“Not supposed to, you are,” Yoda replied. “Understand it, even I do not.”

“So what is it?” Adora asked. 

“A cave there is,” Yoda answered. “Near here. Go into it, you must. Alone, you will be, and without your weapons.”

“What’s in the cave,” Adora asked. Nervously.

“Only what you bring with you,” Yoda replied gravely. 

“So… it’s just a cave?” Adora asked. 

Yoda just shook his head slowly, it didn’t seem like much of an answer. 

“Well that’s somewhat ominous…” Adora muttered. 

* * *

The cave was, in fact, extremely ominous. As if the multitudes of shade caused by the extremely thick foliage and the large vines hanging over the entrance, the unnaturally dense fog made it so Adora could barely see. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Master?” Adora asked when they got to the mouth of the cave. 

“A good idea, it is not,” Yoda answered. “But a necessary step in your training, it is, and, agree to it, you did.”

“Fair enough,” Adora muttered. 

“Your weapons, give them to me,” Yoda commanded. 

“I think I might need them, though,” Adora replied. 

“In the Cave of Evil, your weapons, you will not need,” Yoda said. 

“The Cave of Evil!?” Adora shouted. “Are you trying to kill me!?”

Yoda laughed. “Trying to kill you, I am not,” he answered. “Make you stronger, it will.”

“Fine,” Adora slipped her blaster out of its holster and unhooked her lightsaber and tossed them to Yoda. He caught them both in midair with the Force and set them gently on the ground. 

Adora walked into the mouth of the cave, brushing the thick vines out of the way. The deeper into the cave she went, the colder, and colder the air got. Adora untied her jacket from her waist and pulled it back on. The fog was even thicker inside the cave, and it would’ve blinded her if it wasn’t already pitch black. 

Adora may have been blind, but she could still use the Force to guide her. Or, she would’ve if this was a normal cave, which this particular one quickly made itself known to be the exact opposite. So, she stumbled blindly through a cave which she about pretty sure was named accurately to… something. 

Suddenly, Adora’s foot caught on a rock and she crashed, hard, onto the ground. She got up onto her elbows and was about to get herself all the way up, but stopped when she heard footsteps. He first thought that it was Yoda, but he walked with a cane, and this person had solid, even footsteps. 

Adora heard a laugh, not just any laugh,  _ the _ laugh. Catra’s laugh. ‘ _ There’s no way she can be here, _ ’ she thought. ‘ _ Can she? _ ’

A red lightsaber ignited, much too close to Adora’s face for comfort, and she saw that Catra was the one holding it. She had taken off her helmet, and Adora got a feeling in her stomach that definitely was not fear. “Oh, Adora,” Catra said, biting her bottom lip. Adora suddenly found it very difficult to concentrate. “You didn’t honestly think you could run from  _ me _ , did you?”

“Catra,” Adora gritted her teeth, mostly out of pain. “How… how did you find me.” She was stumbling over her words, much like the rocks. 

“Oh, you made it too easy,” Catra answered. “Your little stunt on Corellia made it all too easy to follow you. Oh, and don’t worry about your friends on Alderaan, they’re very… slippery.”

“Are you going to kill me, then?” Adora asked. 

“Maybe,” Catra winked. “Maybe not. It wouldn’t be too hard considering…” she pointed at Adora’s belt. “You can’t fight back.”

“I wasn’t going to fight you anyway, Catra” Adora responded. 

“But what about on Tatooine?” Catra asked. “You seemed pretty hard-set on killing me then, were you not?”

“I-” Adora started but cut herself off. “I guess I was. I’m sorry, Catra, I wasn’t thinking straight. ”

“Oh, and it doesn’t look like you are now either,” Catra said slyly. “And we’re well past apologies now, Adora. You left me to be taken by the Empire, and now look what they’ve done to me.”

“Catra, I’m sorry!” Adora shouted. “I shouldn’t have left you, I shouldn’t have let them take you!”

“Too late now,” Catra raised her lightsaber high above her head. “Goodbye, Adora.” 

Adora braced for impact as Catra slammed her saber down. 

But the strike never came. 

Adora opened her eyes, it was pitch black again. Was she dead? Or was Catra not real? 

She was still lying down, so Adora picked herself up. She felt a sudden spike of pain in her left foot, the one she had tripped on. “Nope” she grunted. “Definitely not dead.”

* * *

Adora hobbled out of the mouth of the cave. 

Yoda was still sitting there, as well as her lightsaber and blaster. 

“Help you, the cave did?” Yoda asked. 

“Well, if you consider giving me a sprained ankle help, then yes,” Adora answered. 

“Something else, there is,” Yoda said. 

“Yeah…” Adora responded. “I think the cave helped me reach some clarity, but I’m not sure it was the kind I was looking for.”

Yoda chuckled. “Mysterious, this planet is,” he said. “Still trying to understand it, I am. Help you with your ankle, I will, and safe travels, I wish you.”

“Thanks,” Adora replied. “I hope I get to see you again.”

“I do too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 14. You thought Yoda was going to be like Razz, but he was actually like Shadow Weaver. Also, happy birthday to our girl Adora!  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a good way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles related to the chapter (if you want to):  
> [ Dagobah ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Dagobah)  
> [ Cave of Evil ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cave_of_Evil)


	15. Battle over Lothal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dropping Adora Gray off on  
> Corellia, the rest of the Best Friend  
> Squad head to the remote of planet  
> Lothal on another mission for the  
> crime syndicate Crimson Dawn....

“At least this is a nice planet,” Bow said, staring out the ship’s viewport. 

“And we’re going to the worst part of it,” Glimmer muttered. “Like usual.”

“Glimmer!” Bow chided. 

“Glimmer’s right,” Entrapta interjected. “We usually do go to the worse spots on the planets we are sent to, by average.”

“Do you calculate that?” Glimmer asked. “You know what, I don’t want to know.”

“We look to be coming up on the spot,” Bow said. “I’m going to touch Darla down, so get ready.”

“Out here?” Glimmer asked. “But it’s so remote! Are you sure there’s even anything out here?”

“Dryden said his new contact was at these coordinates,” Bow answered. “I don’t think someone would just get up and move if they were about to meet someone.”

Darla landed by a collection of tents set up around a central square. 

“Dryden’s new provider is here?” Glimmer asked. “He’s in the middle of nowhere, how does he make anything?”

“He’s more of a middleman,” Bow said. “He gets the right stuff to the right people, if you know what I mean.”

“So he’s a smuggler?” Glimmer said. “Looks like Dryden is replacing us then.”

“He’s not going to replace us,” Bow assured her. “He’s probably expanding his business, he does this a lot… probably.”

“No, Glimmer’s right,” Entrapta said. “By my calculations, Dryden hasn’t expanded enough to hire a new smuggler. But I don’t think he’s replacing  _ us _ , he says all the time we’re the best.” 

“Entrapta, remember when Dryden sent us to Garel as essentially canon-fodder?” Glimmer asked. “I don’t think we’re the best to him. He’s a crime-lord, they tend to lie… a lot. Or did you calculate someone worse than us?”

“Oh, I did!” Entrapta answered. “Out of the fourteen other smuggling groups that I know about, I have calculated that we are the tenth best. I can tell you the entire algorithm if you want!”

“No thanks, Entrapta,” Bow responded. 

“What’s next?” Glimmer laughed. “Doing hyperspace calculations in your head?”

“I can, actually!” Entratpa shouted. “I reprogrammed Darla’s navicomputer myself after Bow hired me!”

“Wait, what?” Bow shrieked. “I didn’t tell you that was okay!” 

“It was 0.025% inaccurate,” Entrapta replied. “I assumed that you didn’t want Darla crashing into a star.”

“I guess not…” Glimmer said. 

“Alright, let’s not forget,” Bow said. “We do have a job to do.” 

“Fine, let’s do this,” Glimmer groaned. 

* * *

A Devaronian man with a broken horn approached the ship as the cargo bay doors opened. Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta walked down the ramp to meet him. 

“Hello!” the Devaronian called. “I am Vizago, I assume you are the representatives from Crimson Dawn.”

“Uh, that we are!” Bow replied. 

“I was expecting Dryden to send someone more… official looking,” Vizago said. “But I can’t say no to meeting a Mandalorian when the opportunity presents itself.”

“I don’t see a ship,” Glimmer interjected. “How exactly do you smuggle things?”

“A smuggler?” Vizago looked shocked. “I wouldn’t call myself that. I just… get the right things to the right people.”

Bow gave Glimmer a look from under his helmet, but Glimmer understood it. 

“And furthermore,” Vizago continued. “My ship is offworld at the moment, one of my associates is picking up some of that ‘right stuff’ right now.” 

“What kind of ship is it?” Bow asked. 

“The  _ Broken Horn _ …” Vizago started. Glimmer looked at his head and it quickly became clear that this guy was extremely self-centered. “Is a C-ROC Gozanti-class light cruiser. I assume that it fits your requirements for smuggling- ooh. I mean, getting the right stuff-”

“-to the right people, yeah, yeah,” Glimmer interrupted. “It’s a fine ship, though. Everything looks to be in order, so we’ll get this report back to Dryden and he’ll contact you for jobs if he likes you.” She turned to Bow. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah, sure,” Bow replied. “Entrapta! We’re leaving.” All three of them turned back toward Darla. 

“Make sure he doesn’t take long,” Vizago joked. “I’d hate to have to find another client.”

“Oh, that’s completely out of our control,” Entrapta responded. 

“…but we’ll tell him to not take too long,” Bow assured him. 

“Alright,” Vizago said. “I hope I never see you again.” He waved. 

“Right back at you,” Glimmer replied. 

“Well, he was awful,” Entrapta said once the doors had closed. 

“You said it,” Glimmer agreed. “I hope he was serious about not seeing us again.” 

“Oh, come on, guys!” Bow said. 

“Bow,” Glimmer said sternly. “We don’t have to like him, we just have to get his info to Dryden and then we’re done.”

“Fine,” Bow sighed. “I guess we should leave. Entrapta, let’s get Darla off the ground.”

“On it,” the short Twi’lek replied. They both ran off to the cockpit. 

Glimmer sighed and sat down on a crate. It looked like not having Adora around was going to make things pretty boring. 

* * *

“Alright, I’m only going to say this once, so listen up!” Mermista shouted to the group of pilots standing in front of her. “Our mission today is to capture the Imperial factories on the planet Lothal. This will accomplish two things: first, it will stop the production of Imperial starfighters in this sector. And second, it will allow us to make our own ships, at least, until the Empire decides to take them back.”

“You’re expecting us to get through all the planetary defense with only two capitol ships?” one of the pilots asked. 

“I do,” Mermista answered. She pressed a button on the ship’s holoprojector and an image of Lothal popped up, as well as one of an Imperial cruiser. “The Empire thinks we don’t know about the factories, so they only have one light cruiser set up for defence. The  _ Tantive IV _ and two squads of A-wings should be able to take it out, no problem.”

“But what if they call for backup?” another pilot asked. 

“Our spies tell us that all nearby systems don’t have enough ships to meaningfully affect us,” Perfuma said. “And what they do have is slow, it could take them hours to get there-”

“And by that time,” Seahawk interrupted. “We’ll already be on the surface!” 

“But after that,” a third pilot spoke up. “We’ll be sitting ducks down there, and you said earlier that no one else is coming!”

“We won’t be sitting ducks because we’ll have the factories  _ and _ the ships,” Mermista growled. “Much of the civilian population is also sympathetic to the rebel cause, they may even be willing to fight for us, which is why we chose this sector. Attack hard, and attack fast! Get the cruiser destroyed as quickly as possible! Am I understood!”

“Yes, ma’am!” the pilots shouted. 

“Good, now get to your ships!” Mermista ordered. “We’re about to exit hyperspace!”

The pilots quickly filed off of the bridge and down to the hangar below. 

“All wings, prepare for launch,” Mermista said into the intercom. She nodded to Perfuma and she placed her hand on the hyperspace lever. “Exiting hyperspace in 3… 2… 1… Now!”

Perfuma pulled the lever and the carrier came to a sudden halt in front of the sandy-green planet. Standing out like an ugly mark was the Imperial light-cruiser. 

“Jam that cruier’s transmissions,” Mermista ordered. “I don’t want them calling for help.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Seahawk pressed a few buttons on his console. “Transmissions Jammed, commander!”

“Great, now all wings, launch now!” Mermista commanded. 

From the bridge, Seahawk, Mermista and Perfuma saw the two dozen A-wing fighters fly out of the hangars from under them. 

“All squads, check in,” Perfuma said. 

“This is Blue Leader, standing by.”

“This is Blue Two, standing by.”

The rest of Blue and Green squadrons finished the check in. 

“Blue Squad, lock S-foils in attack position.”

“Green Squad, lock S-foils in attack position. Permission to start our attack run?”

“Blue Squad, Green Squad, permission granted,” Mermista replied. “I want to see one big explosion, not lots of little ones.”

“One more thing,” Perfuma said. “If you get hit, return to the carrier immediately, we don’t want to lose any of you out there.”

“Copy that, commander. Starting our attack run now.”

From the Imperial cruiser, two TIE interceptors dropped from the slit in the front. Instead of focusing on the A-wings, they chose to make a run for the carrier and the blockade runner. 

“Green Squad, pull back and keep those fighters off the capitol ships,” Mermista commanded. 

“Copy that,” Green leader replied. “You heard her, boys, pull back.”

Twelve A-wings, specifically the ones with green markings, pulled away from their course to the Imperial cruiser and back around to follow the TIEs. 

“This is where the fun begins!” Seahawk declared. 

“Gunners, get to your stations,” Mermista ordered. “We just stole this ship, I’d prefer not to lose it at the first battle.”

“Yes, ma’am,” a group of teenagers and young-adults got up from their seats and ran off the bridge. 

A loud, fast beeping sound came from the console Perfuma was sitting at. 

“What’s going on?” Mermista asked. 

“A ship is coming up from the planet’s surface,” Perfuma answered. 

“Imperial reinforcements?”

“No, it looks like a civilian freighter,” Perfuma said nervously. “It’s headed right for the battle.” 

“Ugh,” Mermista groaned. “Alright, all wings, we have an incoming civilian freighter. Keep all fire away from it, we’re not the bad guys here.”

“Yes, commander.”

A sudden blast rocked the ship. Mermista was knocked off her feet while Seahawk and Perfuma, who were fortunate enough to be sitting down, were fine. 

“Damage report!” Mermista shouted as she picked herself up. 

“Our shields are still at 83%, commander,” Perfuma said. “It wasn’t a direct hit.”

“I told those guys to take care of those fighters!” Mermista growled. 

“Commander!” Green Leader called. “These new TIE models are much faster than we anticipated. They keep dodging all of our attacks!”

“They still aren’t shielded, so one blast is all it should take,” Mermista replied. “There are twelve of you plus our gunners and two of them, it shouldn’t be that hard.”

“We’re trying, commander,” Green Leader pleaded. 

“Try harder!” Mermista shouted. 

“Yes, commander.” 

* * *

“What’s going on up there?” Bow asked himself. He got up on the console to get a better look out of the viewport. 

“It looks like some sort of space battle,” Entrapta answered. “Makes sense, this planet is very underdefended but has lots of very valuable factories.” 

“Not going to even ask,” Bow muttered. He fell back down into his seat. “Well, this isn’t good.” 

“Yeah, no shit, Bow,” Glimmer said. “Let’s just avoid it and get out of here.”

“That’s the problem,” Bow replied. “That’s in the middle of the only hyperspace lane in or out of this system.” 

“So you’re saying that the only way out of here is through  _ that _ ?” Glimmer shouted. 

“Unfortunately… yes,” Bow sighed. “Let’s divert all power to the engines, we might stand a chance if I- sorry Entrapta, if  _ we _ can pull off some fancy maneuvers.” 

“Haha, yes!” Entrapta shrieked. “I’ve always wanted to be in a space battle!” 

“Been there,” Bow said. “Done that. Not as fun as you’d think!”

“Wait, what?!” Glimmer shouted. 

“Not now!” Bow flicked a few switches on the overhead dashboard. “Let’s get out of here first!” 

“Alright, fine!” Glimmer said. “You’re right, let’s go.” 

“Entrapta, punch it!” Bow shouted. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to hear that!” Entrapta giggled gleefully. 

“ _ Now! _ ” 

“Right!” Entrapta flipped a large lever on the console between herself and Bow. Darla rocketed forward, directly toward the battle before them. 

“XS freighter ‘Darla’, get out of here,” a voice came from the comm. “There is an insurrection taking place here, it is not safe for you. Return to the surface at once or suffer the cons-” 

Bow flicked the comm system off. “Not in the mood for that,” he said casually. 

“Uh oh,” Glimmer said. “Bow’s going full Mandalorian on us.” 

“Glimmer!” Bow shouted. 

“What, not funny?” Glimmer shrugged. 

“No, get to the guns!” Bow ordered. 

“Yes, sir!” Glimmer said with fake gusto. She ran out of the cockpit. 

“Only shoot if one of those starfighters goes after us!” Bow shouted. 

“Got it!” Glimmer shouted back. 

Darla was still flying directly at the battle before them. Bow straight “up”, as much as there could be an up in space, and over the Imperial cruiser. 

“Alright,” Bow flicked a few more switches. “Let’s get these hyperspace calculations done and then we are gone.” He veered the ship away from the planet. 

HYPERSPACE CALCULATIONS COMPLETE, READY TO JUMP. 

“That wasn’t as fun as I hoped it would,” Entratpa complained. 

“Trust me, this was more excitement than we needed,” Bow said. “Let’s get-” 

_ BOOM. _

The ship rocked with the impact. All the lights flickered off for a brief second, then back on. The ship grinded to a halt. Red warning a;arms started going off everywhere. 

“What was that?” Glimmer asked. 

“I think the cruiser shot at us,” Bow answered. He looked at the dashboard. “And our engines took the brunt of it, we have no speed and…” He checked the dashboard again. “No hyperspace.”

“So we’re just stuck out here!” Glimmer shouted. 

“Do you see a way that we’re not?” Bow shouted back. He turned to Entrapta. “Is this the kind of fun you asked for?” 

“Not exactly, but it will do!” Entrapta replied happily. 

Bow sighed. “I’ll never understand you,” he said wearily. 

“I’m going to contact Adora!” Glimmer said. 

“Good idea,” Bow replied. “Entrapta, let’s go fix the engines.”

* * *

“What is that freighter doing?” Mermista asked herself, staring out of the bridge’s viewport. 

The freighter in question chose to not just leave and wait for the battle to be over, but instead charge the Imperial cruiser at full speed and then pull straight up and over to avoid it at the last second. 

“Well, if it works, it works,” Seahawk answered. “I like this pilot’s style.” 

The Imperial cruiser turned its turbolaser turrets upward and shot at the freighter, knocking out its engines. 

“... or not,” Seahawk said. 

“Perfuma, see if you can contact that freighter,” Merstia said. “Blue squad, take out those turbolaser cannons, and, if possible, protect the freighter.”

“Yes, commander.” 

“Looks like we might make some new friends today,” Mermista muttered. 

“Commander, they’ve switched off the communications,” Perfuma said. “If they want to reach us, they’ll have to do it themselves.”

“Well, let’s hope they do,” Mermista replied. “For their sake.”

* * *

“I just got off communications with Adora,” Glimmer said as she stumbled into the engine room, where Bow and Entrapta were hastily trying to repair it. 

“Well, what did she say?” Bow asked. 

“She said she’s too far away to help us,” Glimmer answered. “But she did run into a group of rebels recently and they might be the same group. She said to use her old fake name.” 

“Well do that then!” Bow replied. “Entrapta and I are a little busy at the moment.” He grunted as he tried to do something with something else, this really wasn’t something Glimmer knew anything about. 

Glimmer ran up to the cockpit. She flicked the communicator back on and started tuning the frequencies. “Hello? Hello?” she called into the comm. 

“Hello?” another voice came from the device. It was cold and sarcastic. “Are you the idiot who got their engines shot by the Imperial cruiser we’re trying to destroy?”

* * *

“Well, I wasn’t the one flying the ship, but yeah,” the girl on the comm replied. 

“It looks like you’ve gotten yourself into quite the situation,” Mermista said. “Do you need help?” 

“That would be nice,” the girl’s voice was coated in static. “I think you might’ve run into my friends recently, her name was She’ra.” 

“You know She’ra?” Perfuma butted in. “Of course we’ll help you!”

“Oh, thank the Force!” the girl prayed. “We’re still trying to get our engines fixed, but tell us where to dock for when we do.” 

“You see that stolen Imperial carrier?” Mermista asked. 

“Yeah…” the girl answered. 

“Not that one,” Mermista said. A green A-wing exploded right in front of the viewport. “The other ship. We’ve got a lot of attention on this one.”

“Got it!” the transmission ended. 

“Green Leader, what’s the status of your squad?” Mermista asked into another channel. “Who’s fighter was that?” 

“Commander, that was Green Leader,” another voice answered. “This is Green 3, Green 2, 4, 7 and 9 were also destroyed.”

“How many of those TIEs are still left?” Mermista shouted. 

“Um… both of them,” Green 3 responded. 

“Destroy them!” Mermista growled. 

“Yes, commander.” 

“Blue Leader,” Mermista said. 

“Yes, commander?” Blue Leader asked. 

“Try to take out those turbolaser cannons,” Mermista ordered. “Let’s try to keep our new friends safe.”

“Yes, commander.”

* * *

“Bow! We’re docking at not the stolen Imperial Carrier!” Glimmer shouted from the cockpit. “Go to the other one when you’re finished!” 

“Good, we’re almost done!” Bow shouted back. He turned to Entrapta. “We’re almost done, right?” 

“Yep!” Entrapta answered. “Just this last compartment!” 

Bow gently placed his welder in a few more places, sealing the last couple of wires together and closed the door. He could hear the engines charging up and he and Entrapta rushed back up to the cockpit. They climbed into the respective seats. 

“Well, we fixed them enough to get us moving,” Bow told Glimmer. “But our hyperdrive is still down so we’ll have to take those rebels up on their off. You said not the stolen freighter, right?”

“Yep,” Glimmer answered. 

Bow turned the ship to the two awkward-looking rebel ships. The ship was much slower than it should’ve been. The more Imperial-looking of the two had about a dozen ships swarming it, some of the rebellion, some of them Imperial. 

“I’m guessing that the stolen ship is the one swarmed with dogfighting?” Bow asked. 

“The girl on the other end said so…” Glimmer answered “I think.” 

“Well, I’m docking at their blockade runner,” Bow said. “Anything’s better than stuck out here in the middle of it all.” 

Slowly, but surely, Darla drifted right up next to the rebel ship. Bow spun the ship around to match Darla up to the other ship’s docking port. 

“XS freighter ‘Darla’, this is the  _ Tantive IV _ , with your permission, we will begin the docking process,” A voice came from the comm channel. 

“Permission granted, thanks for the help,” Bow replied. He turned to Entrapta. “Get to the docking port and get us connected. 

“On it!” Entrapta said brightly. She jumped out of her seat and out of the cockpit. 

Several loud  _ KACHUNK _ sounds came from the back. 

“Looks like we’re docked,” Bow said to Glimmer. “Let’s go meet our new friends.” 

“I was about to say the same thing,” she replied. 

* * *

“That TIE interceptor is coming straight at us!” Seahawk shouted. The fighter was spinning wildly, firing from all four of its laser cannons. 

“Everyone, evacuate the ship, now! Get to the escape pods!” Mermista shouted into the comm. She, Seahawk and Perfuma ran off the bridge. 

The elevator door closed just as the TIE was about to crash into the bridge. 

“This is going to be close!” Perfuma said. 

The elevator door opened and the group ran out of it. The ship was starting to fall apart around them. They met up with the gunners and climbed into the escape pods. 

“Four to a pod!” Mermista shouted. “We’re not leaving anyone behind!” She, Seahawk, Perfuma and a young recruit named Frosta climbed into an escape pod. 

“This is  _ not _ how I expected my first assignment to go!” Frosta complained. 

Seahawk chuckled. “Welcome to the rebellion,” he said. 

Mermista peered out of the pod’s viewport. The carrier was slowly burning up and eventually, succumbing and exploding. 

Perfuma winced at the brightness. “We worked so hard,” she said. “All those weeks of planning, and we only used it once.” 

Mermista put a hand on her soldier. “That’s something we’re going to have to get used to,” she replied. 

They heard another, much smaller, explosion. 

“What was that?” Frost asked. 

The smoking wreck of one of the escape pods flew into view, with the burning bodies of those who were in it.

“ _ That _ ,” Mermista answered. “Is not good. Green 3, there’s still one more TIE. Protect the escape pods.” 

“Yes, commander.” 

Suddenly, the other TIE interceptor flew into view, close enough that Mermista could see the pilot waving at them. But just as he was about to pull the trigger, he turned his head sharply to the right, as if he had seen something. The TIE exploded and a green A-wing flew to where it had been. 

“Commander, this is Green 5,” a voice came from the pod’s comm. “Looks like I’m just in time. I’m going to magnetize.” 

“Not a moment too soon, Green 5,” Mermisa replied. “Good work.”

The starfighter flew up, directly over the pod. It shook once, everyone in it was knocked off balance for a second, but they were secured. 

“I’m taking you to the  _ Tantive IV _ , commander,” Green 5 said. “I’m assuming you want to meet our new friends.”

“Yes I do, pilot,” Mermista replied. “Yes, I do.”

* * *

Glimmer and Bow, along with Entrapta riding on Emily and the protocol droid L-1TE, walked onboard the rebel command ship. Almost immediately, a guy in a black vest and a funny looking helmet walked up to them. “Welcome, welcome!” he said. “Our mission leader is on her way here. She was in the carrier that… just exploded, but she’s fine! Don’t worry about your ship, we’re having our best engineers work on it. Now, come with me!” He guestered for them to follow. 

Glimmer, Bow, Entrapta and the two droids followed the man to the central command room, where there was a large holoprojector surrounded by a few rows of benches of increasing height. A few other men dressed almost exactly as the one who greeted them were sitting on these benches. The holoprojector was displaying a large hologram of an  _ Arquitens _ -class command cruiser, or Imperial light cruiser, being swarmed by an increasingly thinning squad of A-wings. 

“Please, sit,” the man leading them said. “Make yourselves comfortable, it might be a while before our commander gets here.” 

“Thanks,” Bow said. He and Glimmer sat down on the edge of one of the first row benches while Entrapta, who was still sitting on Emily, and L-1TE stood next to them. 

“This is Blue 2!” a voice came from the comm on the holoprojector. “I’m hit! I nee-” One of the A-wing holograms fizzled out. 

“Blue 2, Blue 2!” one of the men standing at the holoprojector said. “Come in, come in!” 

“Save it,” another man replied. “He’s dead.”

“Blue Leader, come in,” the first man said. 

“Yes, lieutenant?” another voice came from the comm. 

“The commander said to destroy the turbolasers, what happened to that?”

“We’re trying lieutenant,” Blue Leader said. “But they have a much greater range than our fighters, we can’t get any shots in.” 

“New strategy,” the door slid open and a blue-haired woman wearing a aqua-marine leather jacket and a heavy blaster rifle slung on her back stepped in followed by three others. One of them was a man with a goofy mustache and royal-blue jacket, one was a floofy blonde woman wearing a deep pink t-shirt and green bracelets, and the last was a short girl with navy hair in a thick blue coat. “Target the bridge, it seemed to work pretty well against us.” 

“Attention, commander on deck!” one of the men shouted. They all stood and saluted the woman in the leather jacket. 

“That’s overkill, lieutenant,” the woman said. “Get back to the battle, I want to meet our new friends.”

Bow and Glimer got up from their seats and the commander and her first two companions approached them. The short girl took a seat on the far side of the room. 

Bow took his helmet off. “Hi, I’m Bow,” he said. “This is Glimmer and the one sitting on the astromech in Entrapta.” 

“I heard you guys are friends with She’ra,” the commander said. “I’m Mermista, and these two are Captains Perfuma and Seahawk. We lead the Etherian rebel cell.”

“Etheria?” Glimmer replied. “That’s where I’m from.” 

“That’s where most of the crew here is from,” Perfuma explained. “We weren’t friends of the Republic and we’re certainly not friends of the Empire.” 

“It’s a shame the royal family was taken into a prison camp,” Seahawk said. “We really could use their resolve.” 

Glimmer debated whether or not to tell them that, in fact, she was a part of the royal family, but before she could decide, Entrapta decided that there were more pressing matters at hand. 

“She’ra was actually a fake name,” she butted in before Glimmer could speak. “Her real name was Adora.” 

Seahawk and Perfuma looked surprised but Mermista seemed to be completely unphased. “Yeah, that makes sense,” she said. 

“Mermista, you definitely didn’t know,” Perfuma interjected. 

“You’re right,” Mermista responded. “I’m just better at hiding my shock.” 

* * *

Everybody in the command room looked on excitedly as the holoprojector showed a barrage of laser fire penetrating the light cruiser’s shields. The bridge exploded suddenly and several other fireballs slowly started popping up across the rest of the ship. 

“Blue squad, get out of there,” Mermista ordered. “I don’t want any of you getting caught in the blast.” 

“Yes, commander.” 

The hologram A-wings moved away from the capitol ship as the last intact parts of it succumbed to oblivion. 

Everyone in the room cheered. 

“Alright crew, make preparations for our landing at the surface,” Mermista said. “We still have another battle to win.” 

But something else appeared on the hologram. Something much, much larger than a meager light cruiser. 

“That’s a Star Destroyer,” Seahawk said in awe. 

“Abort that command!” Mermista shouted. “All wings, leave the system now! We’ll send you rendezvous coordinates later! Pilot, get us out of here!” 

“I’m sorry, commander,” the pilot said over comm. “But we’ve lost all controls. They have us in a tractor beam.”

* * *

“We have reached the point where the distress beacon was, commander,” Scorpia said. 

“It looks like we’re too late,” Catra replied. “Looks like Governor Pryce is going to need some extra security from now on.” 

“Commander,” one of the deck officers said from below. “The rebels are still here. Their fighters have fled the system, but we have their command ship caught in our tractor beam.”

“That looks like two ships, officer,” Catra replied. 

“That’s because it is,” the officer clarified. “They’re docked to each other, it’s very fortunate that we-” 

“That’s enough, officer,” Catra raised her hand. There was only one thought going through her mind ‘ _ That looks like Adora’s ship _ .’ “Make sure you get the freighter,” she said. “I don’t care about the other ship.” 

“But commander, you can’t be serious,” the officer sputtered. “That’s a rebel flagship.” 

“Are you questioning a direct order, officer?” Catra asked. She put a hand on her lightsaber. 

The officer got the point and backed down. “No, commander,” he said. “We’ll get the freighter.” 

“And you won’t put anything of other rebel ships in the report,” Catra ordered. 

“Yes, commander.”

Normally in this situation, Catra would be smiling. She had all the power and she had just put one of her pesky officers in his place. But now, she was worried. Having that freighter meant having Adora, but what did having Adora mean? 

* * *

“Do you think your engineers have fixed our ship enough?” Bow asked. 

“Define enough,” Mermista said. 

“Enough to detach, destroy the tractor beam and re-attach,” Bow replied. 

“Since your weapons weren’t affected, I think you should be,” Mermista answered. “Give me a second…” She pulled out a handheld communication device. “Ricky, what’s your status?” she asked. 

“We’ve done everything we can do from the inside, commander,” a squeaky voice said from the comm.

“And that includes…?” Mermista asked. 

“Well, the weapons and engines are fixed,” Ricky answered. “They hyperdrive should be functional as well, but the shields need to be completely replaced.”

“Good work, Ricky,” Mermista said. “Get your team out of there.” 

“Yes, commander.” 

“That’s better than i expected.” Bow said. “Glimmer, I’m assuming you want to blow something up?”

“Absolutely,” Glimmer replied, grinning ear to ear. 

“We’ll send you the rendezvous coordinates when we have them,” Mermista said. “May the force be with you, or whatever.” 

“What about me?” Entrapta asked. 

“Stay here,” Bow answered. “I’m sure the rebellion would love to hear about all of our adventures.”

“Oh yes! I’d  _ love _ to tell them all our stories!” Entrapta said gleefully. 

“That should do the trick,” Bow mumbled. He put his helmet back on and he and Glimmer ran to the docking port. He practically leaped into the driver’s seat. “Glimmer!”

“Yeah?” she called from the docking port. 

Bow flicked a few switches on the console. “Get ready to detach!” he called back. “In 3… 2… 1… now!” 

_ KACHUNK! _

Darla broke away from the rebellion command ship. Bow swiftly steered it away to avoid a collision and, more importantly, prepare to attack the Star Destroyer. 

* * *

“Commander,” one of the deck officers said. “The freighter has detached from the main ship.”

“Redirect the tractor beam to it,” Catra ordered. 

“Yes, commander!”

* * *

“Get ready to shoot, Glimmer!” Bow called. He had the ship locked in a full thrust directly towards the bottom of the Star Destroyer. The tractor beam was located right above where a captured ship would dock. 

“I’m on it!” she shouted. 

“600 meters… 500 meters…” Bow chanted. “400… 300… 200…” 

The ship stopped suddenly. 

“Why’d you stop?” Glimmer shouted. “I don’t have a clear shot yet!” 

“I didn’t stop it,” Bow said. “They got  _ us _ in the tractor beam now.”

* * *

“Commander!” the pilot said. “We’re out of the tractor beam!” 

“Let’s get out of here then,” Mermista replied. “I don’t want to stick around any longer than I have to.” 

“Yes, commander.” 

From the window, the crew could see the stars stretching, the, the bright blue hyperspace tunnel surrounding the ship. They were free. 

* * *

“Commander, we have the freighter trapped in our tractor beam,” one of the officers said. 

“Good,” Catra replied. “Hit them with the ion cannon, I want their weapons offline.” 

“Yes, commander.” 

* * *

Bow could see a few blasts of white light fire from the hull of the Star Destroyer. All the lights in the cockpit fizzled for a second and then went out. 

“Bow, the weapons are offline!” Glimmer called.

“They hit us with their ion cannon,” he replied. “We better prepare for boarding.” 

“Are you kidding?” Glimmer shouted. “We don’t stand a chance!” 

“I know,” Bow said. “We’re going to have to surrender.”

“I’m not going down without a fight,” Glimmer slammed her first against her palm. 

“I know,” Bow said. “But I don’t think we have a choice this time.” 

The ship was finally pulled into the hanger of the Star Destroyer and it shook once as the docking completed. The docking door slammed open and an entire squad of stormtroopers flooded in, surrounding Bow and Glimmer in a tight circle. 

Then, the Inquisitor they had encountered twice now walked through the doorway, followed by a stormtrooper captain. “Where is she?” the inquisitor asked, her voice digitized from the mask she wore. 

“Where is who?” Glimmer replied, feigning ignorance. 

“You know who I’m talking about,” the inquisitor pressed. “Where is A- your Jedi friend? She didn’t leave you, did she?”

“Oh…” Glimmer put a fake look of realization on her face. “Our Jedi friend. Yeah, we dropped her off on Corellia a while ago, she could literally be anywhere by now.” 

“What’s this?” the inquisitor stepped forward and laced her finger down Glimmer’s button-up shirt. She pulled her hand back up, holding a crescent-moon signet on a necklace around Glimmer’s neck. She yanked the necklace off her neck and handed it to the stormtrooper captain. “Captain, take this back to my quarters for analyzing.” 

“Yes, commander.” 

“And what do we have here?” the inquisitor asked, turning to Bow. “White and gold… these are the colors of Clan Wren, are they not? I believe Clan Wren is loyal to the Empire, so you either stole this armor, or you’re a traitor.” This was completely unfair, Bow had joined to fight  _ for _ Clan Wren, which at the time had been loyal to Bo Katan. It was the clan who changed sides, not Bow. 

“Squad, take these prisoners to the detention block,” the inquisitor ordered. “I’m not done with them.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 15. I wrote "Yes, commander." so many times I lost all feeling in my fingers. Also, happy belated birthday to our girl Entrapta! Also, also, 100 Kudos! I can't believe over 100 of you liked this! I might do this again sometime. Also, also, also, I live for comments on these, I probably should've mentioned that on the last 14 chapters.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often (and when I do it's usually some random shit), but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles related to the chapter (if you want to):  
> [ Lothal ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lothal)  
> [ Devaronian ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Devaronian)  
> [ Vizago ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cikatro_Vizago)  
> [ A-wing ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/A-wing_starfighter)  
> [ Imperial Light Cruiser ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Arquitens-class_command_cruiser)  
> [ Clan Wren ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Clan_Wren)


	16. No Princess Left Behind (pt. 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the disastrous battle at Lothal, the  
> rebel cell made up of displaced citizens  
> of the planet Ethera try to recover, but  
> the Empire doesn’t give anyone that  
> luxury....

The entire crew of the _Tantive IV_ let out a collective sigh of relief. They had escaped to hyperspace. They were safe. 

_Safe_. 

That wasn’t a word a rebel often described oneself as. And ‘not often’ was starting to seem like ‘not ever’. 

Less than ten minutes after entering hyperspace, Entrapta received a call on her holocommunicator. 

“Ooh!” she said excitedly. “That must be Bow and Glimmer!” 

“Put it up on the holoprojector,” Mermista said. “I’m sure they want to talk to everyone.” 

“Good idea!” Entratpa replied. She took the thin metal disk out of her overall’s pocket and hooked it up to a cord on the central holoprojector. 

But instead of Entrapta’s friends appearing in the translucent, blue form, the terrifying form of the inquisitor she had encountered showed itself instead. “Hello, rebels,” she said, her voice scratchy and electric from the rigid, black mask. “The freighter I captured and the crew onboard, while not unwelcome to stay, are not who I’m after. I’d be happy to return them and their ship to you in exchange for your help tracking down my target. I’ll even give anyone present at the battle today a formal pardon.” 

“Right…” Mermista replied. “How do you know we can trust you?” 

“What can I say?” the inquisitor said flippantly. “I’m in a generous mood.” 

“How do we even know our friends are still alive?” Perfuma asked. 

“Alright then,” the hologram spun, coming to focus on two figures slouched on the ground in handcuffs; Bow and Glimmer. Bow had been stripped of his armor and both of them were in the Imperial prisoner uniforms. They were both knocked out cold, but they were still clearly breathing. 

“We’ll think about it,” Mermista said. 

“Think quick,” the inquisitor replied as the hologram shifted back to focusing on her. “I tend to get rather impatient.” 

Mermista glared at the inquisitor as she ended the call. “Do we know who her target is?” she asked the room. 

“Um… that would be Adora,” Entrapta replied. 

“Adora?” Seahawk asked. “Right, the fake name.” 

“What’s even so important about her anyway?” Mermista asked. “She told us that the Empire wants her dead, I assumed that she was just like us, but having an inquisitor after her is something else.” 

“I can’t tell you,” Entrapta answered. “Adora trusted me with her secret and she wouldn’t want me telling you.” 

A look of realization glinted in Perfuma’s eyes. She walked over to Entrapta and put a hand on her shoulder. “I know,” she said. “We won’t sell her out.” 

“So we’re just going to let Bow and Sparkles die then,” Mermista sighed. 

“We can’t let that happen either!” Entrapta shouted. 

“So we can’t let that _inquisitor_ hunt down your friend but we also can’t let her keep your other friends,” Mermista groaned. “Can you at least tell me why this time?” 

“Yes, I can,” Entrapta answered. “Glimmer is the former Etherian princess.” 

The room went silent for a moment. 

The Mermista let out a harsh laugh. “Yeah, right,” she said. “And Perfuma’s a Jedi. I think I would know if I had met the former princess of my planet.” 

“Even if you were telling the truth,” Seahawk said. “Why didn’t you tell us earlier?”

“I didn’t think of it then,” Entrapta answered simply. 

“Wait, so we mention that most of us are from Etheria, and you’re with the former Etherian princess, someone who we could get the rest of our planet to rally behind, and you didn’t tell us because you didn’t even _think of it?_ ” Mermista asked incredulously. 

“Pretty much,” Entrapta answered. 

“Okay…” Mermista said. “So what are we going to do about it? That Star Destroyer could be anywhere by now. If we’re going to rescue your friends, we’re going to need to know where they are.” 

“Oh, that reminds me!” Entrapta explained. She pulled a thin screen out of another pocket of her overalls. “I put a tracker on Darla!” 

“Darla?” Perfuma asked. 

“Our ship!” Entrapta smiled. 

“Okay then…” Mermista said cautiously. “Why did you put a tracking device on your own ship?” 

“Just in case!” Entrapta answered cheerily. 

“Do you have any other surprises we should know about?” Seahawk asked. 

“Well if I told you, then they wouldn’t be surprises!” Entrapta cackled. 

* * *

“This plan is terrible,” Mermista groaned. 

“I think it’s a work of _GENIUS!_ ” Seahawk declared. 

“This is very clever, Entratpa,” Perfuma said. “But I’m not sure it has a chance of working.” 

“The inquisitor’s not going to buy it,” Mermista replied. 

“I don’t know,” Perfuma said. “She gave us a very generous offer, it doesn’t seem like she’s particularly interested in us.” 

“ _Or_ ,” Mermisa said. “She’s doing it to lure us into a trap! I can’t risk everyone like that.” 

“So we don’t risk everyone,” Entrapta interjected. “Just send in a few people, your best, so they have the highest chance of getting away.” 

“Send me in!” Seahawk shouted. “I’ll take out the entire ship by _myself!_ ” 

“First of all,” Mermista said. “No you won’t. And second, we’re trying to break people out of there, not blow the place up.” She turned back to the rest of the group. “We’ll have to regroup back at Alderaan, this is the Senator’s personal ship, we can’t use it for this.” 

“Alright,” Perfuma replied. “I’ll get the message to the fighters.” 

* * *

“We need Adora for this,” Seahawk said. “She’ll be great bait for the inquisitor.” 

“The whole point of this plan is to protect Adora!” Perfuma shouted. “If we do that, we’d just be taking the Empire’s offer!” 

“Perfuma’s right,” Senator Organa said. “Adora is very valuable to the Empire, if we get her on this, we are giving them exactly what they want.” 

“Adora can handle it,” Entratpa said. “And she’d want to help get her friends back.” 

“With all due respect,” Mermista said disrespectfully. “I’ve seen Adora fight, and she almost immediately got pinned down by a few stormtroopers. Are you sure it’s a good idea?” 

“Yes!” Entrapta answered. “She’s fought this inquisitor before, I believe in her!” 

“If Entrapta can vouch for her skill,” Senator Organa said. “Then we should get her. Her friends have been kidnapped, after all.” 

“Woah, woah, woah,” Mermista interrupted. “Do we really believe someone who can’t take a few stormtroopers fought an inquisitor and _survived?_ ” 

“Twice, actually!” Entrapta said brightly. 

“Holy shit,” Mermista swore. “If she’s that good, call her, I guess.” 

“ _ADVENTURE!_ ” Seahawk shouted. 

“Babe, you’re the best and I love you, but _please_ shut the fuck up,” Mermsita growled. 

“Alright, fine,” Seahawk said timidly. 

Entratpa plugged her communication device back into the holoprojector and typed some things into it. 

“What are you doing, Entrapta?” Perfuma asked. 

“Calling Adora,” she answered. 

“Wait, are we sure about this?” Perfuma asked the whole group. “Did we decide on this?”

“I did say to call her,” Mermista said. 

“We should at least ask her,” the Senator said. “It’s her decision, after all.” 

“I just feel like we’re putting Adora in unnecessary danger by asking her to do this,” Perfuma said. 

“Why do you care so much, flower girl?” Mermsita asked. “You’ve only known her for a few days.” 

“I just… I-” Perfuma stuttered. 

“I see where the captain is coming from,” Senator Organa put a hand on Perfuma’s shoulder. “She’s coming from a perspective none of us can see, and we need to respect that. But it is ultimately Adora’s choice.” 

“And what exactly is that perspective?” Mermista asked. 

“Everyone in this room has something in their past they would like to keep secret,” Senator Organa answered. “I assume, I’m not sure about Entrapta.” 

“No, I’m pretty much an open book,” Entrapta said. 

“Anyway…” the senator continued. “If Perfuma has a deep secret in her past, that’s her right to keep it that way. We’re fighting for freedom, after all.” 

Perfuma smiled. She had always liked Senator Organa, he always had a way of bringing her up. This had always infuriated Mermista, who’s mission in life, besides bringing an end to the Empire, seemed to be bringing everyone’s mood down to her level. 

“Fine,” Mermista growled. “But I’ll learn it eventually.” 

* * *

“I’d really like to help,” the hologram of Adora said. Her voice was scratchy, possibly from the poor reception in the swamp. She was sitting on a log, her left leg set up on it in a makeshift splint. She was eating something gross-looking off a wooden plate. “Really, I would. If Bow and Glimmer are in trouble, I’m going to be the first one on the team to get them out. But I can’t walk right now because I twisted my ankle.” she pointed to her leg. 

“They were kidnapped by an inquisitor,” Mermista replied. “I don’t know if that changes anything.” 

Adora paid. “Which inquisitor?” she asked carefully. 

“The same as the last two times,” Entrapta answered.

“I’m in,” Adora said quickly. She swung her leg back down and stood up. She winced, but kept going. 

“But your leg!” Perfuma said. “If you’re hurt, you really should stay where you are.” 

“If Catra’s going to kidnap my friends,” Adora growled. She winced everytime she stepped with her left leg. “I’m coming _now._ ” 

“We have a name,” Seahawk said. “Care to tell us about her?” 

“She’s a backstabbing traitor,” Adora answered. “And if she thinks she can kidnap Glimmer and Bow, well then…” 

“I’m getting some brutal revenge vibes over here,” Mermsita said. “I like where this is going.” 

“Adora, please, you’re hurt,” Perfuma begged. “We wouldn’t’ve asked you if we knew about your leg.” 

“It’ll heal on the way there,” Adora replied. “Besides, I need to get used to you guys knowing my real name now, I guess.” 

“Yeah, why _did_ you give us a fake name when we first met?” Mermista asked. 

“I’ve been on the run for seven years,” Adora answered. “The only reason Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta knew it was because I’ve known them for so long and decided I could trust them.” 

“So you’re telling me to not take something personally when I am definitely going to take it personally?” Mermsita asked. 

“Uh…” Adora started. “That sounds like a you problem.” 

Everyone in the room, except for Mermista, started laughing uncontrollably. Never before had Mermista been the one to be out-sassed. “I- uh…” she stammered. “Shut up!” She blushed hard. “Can we just get this over with?” 

“Sure, I’m on my way now,” Adora said. She wasn’t one to gloat, but she was clearly proud of the reaction she had created. 

“We look forward to it,” Perfuma replied through her laughter. 

* * *

“Master Yoda,” Adora said, walking up to him. “I’m leaving.” 

“Healed, you have not,” the Jedi master replied. “But good reason to leave, you have.” 

“How-” Adora started. “…right, Jedi master.” 

Yoda chuckled. “Safe travels, I wish you,” he said. “And hope you recover quickly, I do.” 

“Swifty, let’s go!” Adora shouted. She started walking toward the ship. 

“ _Are we going back to Adleraan?_ ” Swiftwind asked. 

“Apparently yes,” Adora answered. “Let’s go.” 

“ _But what if I don’t wanna?_ ” Swiftwind complained. 

“Then I’d say that I don’t care,” Adora said. “Let’s _go_. I’m not going to say it again.” 

“ _What’s got you so upset?_ ” Swiftwind prodded. 

“I don’t know, maybe because my droid keeps nagging me!” Adora said sarcastically. “Oh, and my friends got kidnapped. You were even the one recording the call, why are you asking that?” 

“ _I’m just messing with you,_ ” Swiftwind answered. 

“Do you really think that’s a good idea right now?” Adora asked. “Because I currently have two deadly weapons and am _very_ pissed off right now!” 

“ _Alright, alright,_ ” Swiftwind beeped. “ _You’re right, let’s go._ ” 

Adora hobbled up the ramp of the starship, Swiftwind rolling close behind. She delicately climbed into her seat, as to prevent as much pain to her leg as possible. It didn’t matter how badly she wanted to get back at Catra, that _needed_ to heal. 

‘ _It’s a two-day hyperspace trip,_ ’ Adora thought. ‘ _I’ve got some time_ .” She flicked a few switches and pulled the lever. The stars stretched and the ship rocketed into hyperspace.

* * *

Two days later, Adora’s ship emerged from hyperspace at Alderaan. Her leg still hadn’t fully healed, but she could now walk without the splint and most of the pain had subsided. The small freighter landed at the same place of her first, and only other, visit to this planet. 

Adora walked, much slower than she would’ve liked, but at least she wasn’t hobbling, down the ramp and was almost immediately hit with the full force of Entrapta giving her an extremely tight hug. “He-ey!” Adora said, struggling to breath. “It’s good to, oof, see you, Entratpa.”

“Good to see you too, Adora,” the Twi-’lek replied brightly. 

“‘Kay, as much as I appreciate this hug,” Adora said. “I can’t breathe.” 

“Oh,” Entrapta suddenly let go of her. “Sorry.” 

“Alright, let’s go,” Mermsita walked up followed by Seahawk and Perfuma. She had a heavy-looking blaster rifle slung over her back and two twin pistols set into holsters on her sides. Seahawk had a stolen E-11 stormtrooper blaster and Perfuma was carrying a makeshift sniper. Adora noticed a thin metal cylinder hanging from Perfuma’s belt that she didn’t remember noticing the last time they had met. 

“Wait, already?” Adora asked. “I just got here.” 

“And now you’re leaving,” Mermista replied. “Your old friend put us on a time limit, and we’re not sure when that’s going to be up.” 

“I still don’t see why I can’t bring my flamethrower,” Seahawk complained. 

“For the last time,” Mermista groaned. “This is a _rescue_ mission, not a demolition.” 

“I still don’t see why it can’t be both,” Seahawk muttered under his breath. 

“Hold on,” Adora said. “Why are we using my ship?”

“Because it’s the only one we got,” Memrista answered. “Let’s go.” 

“Can I at least get a rundown of the plan?” Adora asked. 

“Well, you’re going to need that.”

* * *

Catra was sitting at her desk, legs crossed up on it (fuck her boss’ regulations), when Scorpia came rushing into her office holding a datapad. She immediately took her feet down and perked up. 

“Um, commander?” Scorpia said. “You’re getting an incoming call…” 

“Well, put it through,” Catra replied. 

“That’s the thing…” Scorpia said shyly. “It’s from that Jedi… you know…” she brought her voice down to a whisper. “Adora.” 

“Scorpia, we’re not under surveillance here,” Catra replied. “And put it through, now!” 

“Yes, commander,” Scorpia pressed a button on her datapad and a small hologram of Adora appeared on Catra’s desk. 

“Hey, Adora,” Catra said, a hint of intimidation in her voice. 

“I’ve had enough of your shit, Catra,” Adora replied. “Bringing Bow and Glimmer into this is way too far.” 

_Fuck._

Catra had never heard Adora swear before, she was the most dogmatic among the already dogmatic Jedi Order. If she had swore when they were kids, she might’ve thrown herself out of the council chamber window. Catra was starting to get nervous. 

“Damn, Adora,” Catra said. “I see you’ve changed a lot. Y’know, this is our first real conversation-” 

“In seven years,” Adora interrupted. “I know. And it’s going to be our last. I demand that you release my friends immediately.” 

“You’re not in position to demand anything, Adora,” Catra laughed. “However, if you were to bargain, let’s say… yourself, I would be happy to release your friends.” 

“I’m not so sure I believe you’d just _let_ two prisoners out,” Adora said. “Are you not part of the Empire?” 

Catra laughed. “Good to know you still have your black-and-white sense of morality,” she said. “If you don’t meet with me, I’ll send the Etherian Princess and her boyfriend to a family reunion with her parents. Although, I hear royals don’t make great slaves.” 

“Fine,” Adora stated. “Meet me at these coordinates.” A new message appeared on Catra’s holoscreen, coordinates for the middle of nowhere. “I want them released before I’m taken on board your ship.” 

“No,” Catra said flatly. “You will dock in my hangar, surrender yourself and your weapons to me, and then your friends are free to go. We both get what we want, it seems only fair, doesn’t it?” ‘ _Nice choice of words there, Catra,_ ’ she thought. ‘ _You just admitted that you wanted her. Though, it’s not like she’s going to interpret it like_ that _._ ’ 

“I don’t know what definition of fair you’re operating under here,” Aora replied. “But I accept.” 

“A consensus has been reached,” Catra flaunted. “I expect to see you soon.” She ended the call. 

Catra sighed. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for this. What she was about to do was extremely dangerous, failure would mean her execution, along with Adora’s, which, in Catra’s humble opinion, was the one she’d much rather prevent. But that part was really Adora’s choice to make, and if she chose right, Catra would get what she’d always wanted.

* * *

“I cannot believe you almost blew it,” Adora scolded Entrapta. “She’s not supposed to know I’m not the only one on the ship.” 

“Sorry!” Entrapta replied. “It’s just there’s so much I could improve in your new droid. Energy efficiency, memory storage…” 

“I get it,” Adora interrupted. “But stop messing with Swifty.” 

Mermista chuckled. “You nicknamed him _Swifty?_ ” 

“Yeah,” Adora answered. “He said it was okay if I called him that.” 

“You can understand the astromech?” Perfuma said. “You have to teach me how to do that.” 

“Sorry,” Adora replied. “But I’m not sure you could learn that.” 

“I assure you I can,” Perfuma said. She didn’t seem to say it out of offense, but rather out of an apparent mutual understanding. Adora noted this in the back of her mind for later.

* * *

A little over a half an hour later, the ship emerged from hyperspace to absolutely nothing. Another half hour passed, and a Star Destroyer appeared. 

“That was faster than I expected,” Adora said. 

“We’re less than an hour away from Coruscant out here,” Entratpa replied. “It’s really a surprise that she didn’t get here sooner.” 

“I hope you guys are ready, because this will be a really short trip if you aren’t,” Mermista said. 

“Hey, we all know the plan,” Seahawk said flippantly. “What could go wrong?” 

“That’s what you said when you accidentally got three of our cruisers destroyed at that asteroid field,” Mermsita complained. “I still don’t know how you managed to do that.” 

“I never said it was on accident,” Seahawk said. “It was all part of my brilliant plan!” 

“Your brilliant plan that completely failed!” Mermsista said. “We were the only two to walk out of that battle.” 

“Yes, especially if we’re talking about both sides,” Seahawk cooed. “The Empire lost two Star Destroyers and all of their shipyards below, I consider that a victory.” 

“Ugh, you are so annoying!” Mermsita groaned. 

“Quiet!” Adora shouted. “We’re being pulled in!” 

The tractor beam pulled the small freighter into the hangar of the Star Destroyer. Adora could see Darla parked right next to them out of the viewport. 

The ramp lowered itself and Adora walked down it. Immediately, she was stopped by two stormtroopers. “The commander’s expecting me,” she said. 

“Shut it, rebel scum,” one of the troopers replied. He put a pair of binders on Adora’s wrists, which she recognised as the Force-suppressing kind. The other one confiscated her blaster and lightsaber. Catra, it seemed, wasn’t taking any chances.

The stormtroopers dragged her down a long set of hallways. Adora felt a strange tinge of recognition walking through them. She had only been onboard the Republic’s _Venator_ -Class Star Destroyers a few times; apparently, the Empire hadn’t changed everything since the fall of the Republic. 

They came to a closed doorway. The stormtrooper in front pressed a few buttons on the controls and it flew open. Adora was dragged inside. 

Inside the room, there was a large, black desk, and sitting in a menacing black chair behind it was Catra. She had her helmet on, but the mask had been retracted, so Adora got a full view of the face that had once belonged to her best friend. Standing behind her was a stormtrooper captain. “Hey, Adora,” Catra said. 

Adora’s breath caught in her throat. She was beginning to feel things she wasn’t supposed to. She had been trained to let go of her attachments, but Catra was in front of her, and she was the one thing Adora had been refusing to let go of. She thought her training with Yoda had helped, but the Catra here was far more real than any vision or illusion in a cave could possibly be. 

Adora remained silent. She didn’t trust herself to speak at the moment. 

The stormtrooper carrying Adora’s weapons loudly placed them on Catra’s desk. 

“Thank you, trooper,” Catra said. “Leave us, all three of you.” She nodded to the captain behind her. 

The three stormtroopers walked out of the room. The door shut behind them and Adora suddenly realized that she was alone with Catra for the first time in seven years. Their fight in Tatooine didn’t exactly count in her mind. 

* * *

“Please, sit,” Catra gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. “Let’s have a chat.” Adora put an angry expression on her face and silently took a seat in one of them. “Determined for our little video chat to really be our last conversation, huh?”

Adora remained silent, she didn’t even nod. 

“Alright then,” Catra said. “I guess I should lay it out for you. Since you decided to hand yourself over peacefully, your friends are free to go.” 

“You’re really going to just release them?” Adora asked. 

“Looks like I broke the silence,” Catra teased. “But seriously, yes, I am. When have I ever not kept my word?”

“Do you really want a list?” Adora said. 

“Yes, Adora, I really do,” Catra answered. “When have I ever broken a promise?” 

Adora opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. 

“See?” Catra said. “If anything, you broke your end of the promise. Remember? You promised to look out for me, and look what happened.” 

“That’s not fair!” Adora suddenly stood up. “One of us had to go out and get supplies and you were too scared! Did you really want us to starve?” 

“I didn’t want you to leave!” Catra shouted. “I was scared enough when you were there, imagine how I felt when you were roaming around the city! I was terrified, for both of us!” 

“You could have come with me, then!” Adora replied. “If you really felt that much better when I was around, why didn’t you?” 

“Because I’m a coward!” Catra shouted. Both of them fell silent, the only noise was their heavy breathing. Catra recomposed herself. 

“Because I’m a coward,” she said calmly. “And because curled inside my sleeping bag up in that attic was the only place left in the galaxy that felt remotely safe.” ‘ _Except with you._ ’ But she didn’t say that last part, she didn’t know if she could. 

Adora sat back down. “So why not leave now?” she asked. 

“Because if I do, I’m dead,” Catra answered flatly. “If an inquisitor tries to leave, they die. And I don’t know about you, but I like living.” 

“So why not die?” Adora said. “Fake your own death. It worked pretty well for me, for a while.” 

“I can’t Adora!” Catra replied. “It’s impossible.” 

“Fine,” Adora said. “If you’re content serving an evil regime, that’s your choice, I guess.” 

“Fair enough,” Catra stood up. She pressed a button on her desk. “Sergeant, please escort the prisoners in cell 4a to the hangar. Make sure you get them their weapons and armor as well.” 

There was only a long, sustained silence on the comm. 

“Sergeant, respond,” Catra commanded. 

No response. 

“Sergeant, can you hear me?” Catra shouted. “What the hell is going on?” 

“Sorry, commander,” came a voice from the comm. 

“You aren’t the sergeant,” Catra said. “Who are you?” 

“The sergeant is dead, commander,” the voice replied. “We have a, uh… situation on the detention level.” 

“What kind of situation?” Catra shouted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 16. I know I took a break for a week with no warning, I'm sorry. The next chapter will be up next Tuesday.  
> I live for the comments, so please, leave some feedback on here.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates. If you do, I hope you like random Magic: the Gathering content.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles related to the chapter (if you want to):  
>  E-11 Blaster Rifle   
> [ Binders ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Stuncuffs) There's not an article for the Force-suppressing kind, but they do exist.


	17. No Princess Left Behind (pt. 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to save Bow and Glimmer from the  
> clutches of her former friend, Catra, Adora  
> Gray surrenders herself to the inquisitor.  
> Unbeknownst to the Empire’s agent, a secret  
> squad or rebels aims to break their friends out  
> of the Empire’s clutches….

Mermista fired a few more rapid shots from her rifle, taking out two stormtroopers who were crouched behind the next corner. A blaster shot whizzed right past her ear and she ducked back behind the wall. 

“I told you this was a bad plan, geek-girl!’ she shouted. 

“Don’t worry,” Entratpa replied. “I accounted for this. We just have to get down this hallway.” 

“How do you plan on doing that?” Mermista asked. “There’s about a million stormtroopers in our way!” 

“Not even close to a million, silly!” Entrapta said. “Just twenty-six. It should be easy if we don’t get hit.” 

“ _That’s_ the problem,” Mermista groaned. 

“This is why you should’ve let me bring my flamethrower,” Seahawk pouted. He swung his satchel over his shoulder to be in front of him. He reached inside it and pulled out a thermal detonator. 

“I didn’t say you could bring those!” Mermista shouted. 

“You didn’t say I couldn’t!” Seahawk smiled. He threw the explosive down the hallway. It detonated, killing six stormtroopers in close proximity and creating a nice plume of smoke. 

“Use the smoke as cover,” Entrapta said. “Nice thinking, Seahawk.”

“The smoke… yes,” Seahawk replied. “That’s totally what I meant to do with that!” 

Entrapta, Mermista, Seahawk and Perfuma advanced down the hallway. 

“I can’t see anything,” Mermsita whispered. 

“Neither can they,” Perfuma said. “And that’s the point.” She raised her rifle, fired a few quick, successive shots, and lowered it again. 

“Are you crazy?” Mermsita asked. “You just gave away your location!” 

“No, I didn’t,” Perfuma replied. 

The group came out of the smoke cloud to find that the remaining troopers in the hallway had smoking holes in their chest plates. 

“How did you do that?’ Memista asked. 

“You hired me for my sniper skills,” Perfuma grinned. “Don’t be surprised that I’m good.” 

“Alright everyone!” Entratpa said. “We have to keep moving!” 

* * *

“What kind of situation?” Catra shouted. 

“There appears to be- _ARGH!_ ” Then there was nothing but static. 

“Trooper, come in!” Catra said. “Come in!” She turned to Adora. “What did you do?”

“Me? Nothing,” Adora answered. “But I have some friends that also didn’t appreciate you taking Bow and Glimmer either.” 

“Fine then,” Catra said. “They get your friends out, what about you? You’re still in shackles on the opposite end of the ship.” 

“I can handle myself,” Adora smiled. 

“Have it your way,” Catra scooped up Adora’s weapons from her desk, grabbed the binders holding Adora and dragged her out of the room. She pressed a button on her helmet and the mask came down. On the way out, Adora noticed a white and gold suit of Mandalorian armor on display on the back wall. It was Bow’s armor. The captain and the two other stormtroopers were still standing on guard outside the doorway. 

Catra shoved Adora against the opposite wall. “Since you seem so intent on not cooperating, I’ll give you the same choice I was given,” she said. The three stormtroopers raised their blasters. “Join, or die.” 

* * *

Mermsita fired one last shot from her blaster. It hit the last remaining guard in the chest and he fell to the ground. 

“Alright,” Entrapta settled herself at one of the detention terminals. She began frantically typing onto the keyboard. “Glimmer and Bow are being held in cell 4a. Three cells down on my… left.” 

Perfuma fired a shot from her sniper, hitting the control panel on the specified cell. The door flew open. She and Mermista walked up to the open door, Glimmer and Bow were sitting on the bench at the opposite wall. 

“Mermista? Perfuma?” Bow asked. “You came for us?” 

“I’m here too!” Entrapta said. She popped up in front of the doorway.

“I’m also here!” Seahawk shouted. 

“You saved us,” Glimmer said. “Thank you.” 

“Don’t thank me yet, princess,” Mermista said. Glimmer and Bow’s faces both fell. “That’s right, we know now. That’s pretty much the only reason we came back.” 

“”That’s not true,” Perfuma retorted. “I, at least, care about you as people. Us rebels have to look out for each other.” 

“Ugh, fine,” Mermsita slung her rifle back around her back. She took both of the pistols out of their holsters and tossed them to Glimmer and Bow. “You might need those.” 

“Thanks,” Bow said. “Now let’s get my armor.” 

“Woah, woah, woah there, mando,” Mermista said. “It’s crazy enough to come and rescue you. Going and trying to get your armor is suicide. We’ll just get you some new armor later.” 

“That armor has been in my family for centuries,” Bow replied. “It’s irreplaceable. And it’s the only piece of my family I’ve had since I left. I _have_ to get it back.” 

“Why does this keep getting harder and harder,” Mermista groaned. “Geek-girl, do you know where they’re keeping his armor?” 

“Yes, um…” Entrapta said. 

“What, where is it?” Mermist asked. 

“It’s in the inquisitor's office,” Entrapta answered. “And she’s currently there.” 

* * *

“What’s it going to be, Adora?” Catra asked. “Join the Empire, and be with _me_ , or be shot where you stand.” 

“Why?” Adora asked. “Why are you doing this, Catra?” 

“Because I like living, Adora,” Catra answered. “And I have to do this if I want to keep doing that. So make your choice.” 

“I, uh…” Adora’s mind was racing. She had been placed in binders, shoved against a wall and had three blasters shoved in her face, so running was not an option. Dying obviously wasn’t a great option, but neither was joining the Empire, and she supposed that was the point. She noticed her lightsaber being held loose in Catra’s hand. 

_Maybe…_

Adora took a deep breath. “You’ve forced my hand, Catra,” she raised her binded hands. “I guess you’re going to have to kill me.” 

Catra’s mask hid her surprise, but Adora could sense it clearly. “I guess I will,” she said. She turned to the makeshift firing squad. “Fire.” 

Several things happened at once. All three stormtroopers fired. Adora dropped into a squat but kept her hands high. One of the blaster bolts hit the connection point on her binders and they split apart. She jumped into a flip, aiming herself to land behind the stormtrooper farthest from Catra, and Force-pulled her lightsaber and blaster out of Catra’s hand. The blade ignited in midair, stabbing through the soldier in front of Adora’s chest before reaching her. Adora caught both weapons, immediately holstering her blaster before continuing. 

The dead trooper collapsed and Adora advanced, cutting down the next one in her path. She reached the captain, but they raised her hands and dropped their blaster when Adora stuck her green blade in front of her face. 

“Please, don’t kill me,” the captain begged. They had a higher voice, which surprised Adora. It wasn’t completely unheard of to see a female stormtrooper, but it was uncommon enough that an entire planetary invasion force could realistically be devoid of them. 

“Alright, I won't,” Adora replied. She turned to Catra. “I’m not joining you, and I won’t go down without a fight.” 

“I guess I should have expected this,” Catra said. “You never were one to give up.” 

“Is that an admission that you were?” Adora asked smugly. 

“The thing is that I know _when_ to give up, Adora,” Catra yelled. “Because I know how to survive.” 

“And it looks like the time to give up is now,” Adora said. “Don’t you think?” 

“You know, I used to like your smugness, Adora,” Catra answered. “But now, it just feels like you're mocking me.” 

“I might be,” Adora smiled. 

“Fine, you win,” Catra said. “Just get off my damn ship.” 

“Just like that?’ Adora asked. 

“Do I really have any other choice?” Catra replied. “You’re the one calling all the cards here.” 

“You always were so observant,” Adora said. It was a genuine compliment, Adora had always thought Catra to be the smarter of the two of them, that included her powers of observation. The being in everything but Force ability which she had always dominated Catra at. 

Adora retracted her lightsaber and ran back down the hallway. “Do you want to go after her?’ she heard the captain ask. 

Catra’s answer baffled Adora. “Don't,” she said. “I’m not going to risk her dying.” 

_Didn’t she just have me in front of a firing squad?_

* * *

Entrapta, Seahawk, Mermista and Perfuma, along with Glimmer and Bow, ran down the identical hallways and almost directly into Adora. 

“Glimmer! Bow!” Adora shouted. She wrapped them both into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re alright!” 

“Good to see you too, Adora,” Bow said. “What were you doing?” 

“Causing a distraction,” Adora answered. “Your armor is in Catra’s office, I’m sure you want that back.” 

“We were just on our way there,” Mermista replied. 

“Entrapta and I can get it,” Bow said. “We’ll meet you back in the hangar.” 

“Are you sure you can handle it?” Adora asked. “I can go help you if-”

“Adora, we’ll be fine,” Bow assured her. “I’m sure you’re the _last_ thing that inquisitor wants to see right now.” 

“You’re right,” Adora said. “May the Force be with you.” 

“I’m a Mandalorian,” Bow smiled. “I don’t need the Force.” 

* * *

“So, how do you know the Jedi?” Scorpia asked once they had re-entered the room. “What was her name again? Adelle? No, that wasn’t it…” 

“Her name is Adora,” Catra said. “It’s a long story, and not one that I feel like talking about.” He flopped into her spinning desk chair. 

“C’mon, commander,” Scorpia said. “Long stories are the only thing that makes this job bearable these days. Distracts from the horror of war and all, y’know?” 

“Ugh, fine,” Catra groaned. “Though it’s not a happy story, so I don’t know how much it’s going to distract from the ‘horror of war and all’.” 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Scorpia said. “Please, continue.” 

“Alright,” Catra began. “Adora and I grew up in the Jedi Temple together. We were best friends because she would always protect me from the bigger kids who would pick on me. Funny, they’re all long dead and I’m in command of my own Star Destroyer, so I guess that shows them.” 

“That’s really not funny, commander,” Scorpia interrupted. “That’s really horrifying, actually.” 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Catra continued. “When Order 66 came down and _Operation Knightfall_ was carried out, Adora and I escaped the temple together and hid out in the attic of an old apartment building in the lower levels. Every day, she would go out to get food and supplies and I would stay and cower in fear. I got found, and well, I’m here.” 

“Wai, wait, wait,” Scorpia said. “You got found? That doesn’t explain much. What really happened?” 

“I said I didn’t want to talk about it!” Catra growled. “I’ve already told you much more than I was originally willing to, and it’s really all you need to know.” 

“Plese, commander?” Scorpia begged. “I know we’re not exactly friends, but it’s important for us to build trust.” 

“I swear, Adora was never like this…” Catra muttered. “Fine then, I was found by Darth Vader himself and he offered me a choice: Join, or die. Luckily, or I guess unluckily now, I managed to keep Adora’s survival a secret and I was the only one taken. You’re the only person I’ve told than to.” 

“See?” Scorpia said. “This is the kind of trust that’s supposed to be built between commanders and their captains! Were you ever this close to any clone troopers?” 

Catra laughed. “I never commanded any clone troopers,” she replied. “The war ended right before Adora and I would’ve been able to lead a battalion. My old master commanded in some battles though, but from what I heard, the clones she led hated her. Can’t say I didn’t either. Master Weaver was a downright bitch.” 

* * *

Bow and Entrapta sprinted down the hallways of the Star Destroyer as quietly as possible. 

Entrapta ducked her head around the last corner. “This side’s clear,” she said. 

Bow ducked sound the other side. “This side’s clear as well,” he replied. “Let’s go.” He and Entrapta reached one of the closed doors in a long line of them. “Are you sure this is the right one?” 

“I’m 97.34 percent sure,” Entrapta answered. 

“Wh-? Okay…” Bow muttered. He pressed the big red button on the control panel. The door opened, revealing the inquisitor and a stormtrooper captain discussing something behind a large, black desk. 

“What the…” the inquisitor said. 

Bow rushed into the room, firing rapidly from the borrowed blaster pistol. He’d always preferred rifles, so everything about it felt wrong to him. 

The inquisitor rapidly stood up and ignited her lightsaber. She deflected a few of the shots, the rest of them hit the back wall. The stormtrooper captain threw herself onto the floor behind the desk to avoid getting hit. 

Bow rolled out of the way of the deflected shots, right in front of his armor in a hovering display. He grabbed one of the gauntlets off the display and aimed it at the inquisitor, who had gotten up on top of her desk. He pressed a button and a net sprung from the gauntlet, pinning the inquisitor to the back wall. A sudden electric charge was sent through the strings of the net, knocking her out cold. 

“Entratpa!” Bow called. “Help me get my armor down!” 

Entrapta cautiously entered the room. After seeing there wasn’t any danger left, she hopped over to Bow. They took the pieces down as quickly as possible. Bow hastily put them on over his orange prison jumpsuit. His blasters and jetpack were also there, Bow was grateful to have Entrapta help put the jetpack on, but it was usually Glimmer who did that. 

“It doesn’t look the best…” Bow said. The suit that was worn under his armor was supposed to be a light grey, the orange just looked all sorts of wrong. A weak grunt came from the inquisitor, who was still pinned to the wall. “But it’ll have to do for now, let’s go!” 

Bow and Entratpa sprinted out of the room and down the hallways, not even attempting to be quiet this time. Bow heard the angry screams of the inquisitor and the slashes of her lightsaber as she cut herself down. 

* * *

“Captain!” Catra growled as she cut through the wiry net pinning her to the wall. “That’s the second time today you’ve just given up!” 

“Sorry!” Scorpia replied. “But you said yourself that you know when to give up, and it’s what kept you alive. I’m just following your advice!” 

“Well _I’m_ going after them,” Catra said. “You can come with me if you aren’t afraid of getting shot!” She ran out of the room. 

* * *

“Take a left here!” Entrapta shouted. “The hangar is just up ahead!” 

“You better be right!” Bow replied. 

“I always am!” 

Bow could think of several instances where that wasn’t the case, but that wasn’t really all that important at the moment. 

“This doorway!” Entrapta shouted. 

Bow skidded to a stop and veered right through the doorway. He saw Darla and some other, smaller freighter parked next to each other. The smaller ship retracted its landing gear and flew down and out the hangar. 

“I’d stop right there if I were you.” 

Bow turned around. The inquisitor was standing right behind Entrapta, who was choking and being held up by… nothing. The inquisitor’s red blade had been placed in front of her neck. 

“Let her go!” Bow growled. He held up his rifle, trying to aim it at the inquisitor, but he couldn’t get a good shot without risking Entrapta. 

“You’re not going to shoot,” the inquisitor laughed. “Not unless you’re fine with killing your friend.” 

“Bow,” Entrapta choked out. “I- pl- please…” 

“Don’t worry Entrapta,” Bow said. “We’re getting out of here.” 

“I think not,” the inquisitor replied. “Since your Jedi friend has escaped me once again, and your other friend’s recent prison break, you two won’t be leaving this Star Destroyer, unless it’s out the airlock.” 

“Bow,” Entrapta choked. 

“Save your strength, Entrapta,” Bow said. “I’m not leaving without you!” 

“Yes- you are,” Entrapta pulled out her blaster and shot the door controls. The blast door shut, septerating her and the inquisitor from the Mandalorian. 

“ _NO!_ ” Bow shouted. He rushed over to the door, frantically pressing the buttons on his side, which were still fine. Nothing happened. “C’mon, c’mon!” 

A red lightsaber blade shot through the blast door, grazing Bow’s shoulder. 

“Fuck!” Bow stumbled back. ‘ _This can’t be happening, this can’t be happening._ ’ He ran over to Darla and up the ramp into the ship. Glimmer, Seahawk, Mermista and Perfuma were sitting in the cargo bay. 

“Where’s Entrapta?” Glimmer asked, confused. 

“She’s gone,” Bow answered. “The inquisitor got her. I tried to save her, but… she- she’s gone.” 

“Wait, what?” Glimmer shouted. “No, that can’t be right!” 

“I’m so sorry,” Bow took off his helmet. He could feel the tears streaming down his face. “I tried, I really tried. But there’s no way she’s still alive.” 

“You’re the pilot, Mando,” Mermista said. “Can’t break down on us now, we gotta go!” 

“Where’s Adora?” Bow asked. “I’m not leaving without two of my crewmates.” 

“Other ship,” Mermista answered. “She waited for you to get back before leaving, I guess she left a little too early.” 

“This isn’t funny, Mermista!” Glimmer shouted. “Our friend just died, give him a break!” 

“Excuse me, your worship,” Mermsita groaned. “I’m just trying to make sure that the rest of us don’t.” 

Bow put his helmet back on. “I’m going to need a copilot,” he said. “This ship needs two people to fly it.” 

“I’ll do it,” Glimmer volunteered. 

“No offence, Glimmer,” Bow said. “But I’ve never seen you fly before.” 

“I’ve been watching you for years,” Glimmer replied flippantly. “I got this.” 

“I suppose it’s the best we got,” Bow muttered. “Let’s go!” He and Glimmer ran up to the cockpit. Bow took his normal seat and Glimmer hesitantly took the seat that was supposed to be Entrapta’s. “Glimmer, I’m going to need you to-”

“I got it, I got it,” Glimmer interrupted. She flicked several switches and the normal engine sound started up. “I’ve been watching you for years, remember?” 

Bow smiled under his helmet. “I suppose you do,” he replied. He saw a searing hole in the blast door being pushed out. The inquisitor had finished cutting through. “...and now it’s time to leave.” 

“I couldn’t agree more,” Glimmer said. 

Darla’s landing gear retracted and Bow navigated her down and out of the hangar. As soon as they were below the Star Destroyer, all of the underside batteries opened fire upon them. 

“Shields up!” Bow shouted. 

“On it!” Glimmer flicks a switch on the overhead dashboard. The incoming shots dissolved a split-second before they hit the ship. 

“Let’s program this for Alderaan…” Bor mumbled as he frantically typed into the navicomputer. “53 seconds!” 

“I’m not sure the shields can last that long!” Glimmer shouted. 

“They might not have to,” Bow said. He turned his seat to the cargo bay. “Could some of you get on the guns!” 

“I knew I’d get to blow something up!” Seahawk shouted. “See Mermista? It can be both!” 

“This time, I’m not even mad about being wrong,” Mermista said. She and Seahawk each climbed into the turrets on the top and bottom of the ship. 

“Shields at 37 percent!” Glimmer shouted. 

“We still have 31 seconds left in the calculations!” Bow said. 

The bottom turret began firing rapidly and spinning wildly. “Not _this_ is a rescue mission!” Seahawk shouted. 

“I thought you were about to say ‘podracing’,” Mermista said. “I have no idea why.” 

Several of the turbolaser cannons exploded. 

“Good job, Seahawk!” Bow called. “But we're going to have to get rid of that tractor beam or we’re not going to get very far! I don’t want to get rescued a second time!” 

“I’m on it!” Mermista called back. 

The top turret fired a few shots straight upward. 

_BOOM!_

A massive explosion rang in the hangar above. 

Bow veered Darla out of the way to avoid the “falling” debris. 

“Three… two… one…” Glimmer muttered. 

HYPERSPACE CALCULATIONS COMPLETE, READY TO JUMP. 

“I’m so, so sorry, Entrapta,” Bow muttered as he pulled the lever. 

The stars stretched, and the freighter rocketed into the void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 17. Oh boy! I'm sorry, but I had to do this at some point. Also, goodbye Gina Carano! Get your fucking Neo-Nazis out of Star Wars.  
> I live for the comments, so please, leave some feedback on here.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> I don't think there's any obscure Star Wars lore that I haven't already linking in a previous chapter, but if you're confused, leave a comment.


	18. Changing Tides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During the daring escape to rescue  
> Glimmer and Bow, Entrapta is left  
> behind and presumed dead....

Entrapta couldn’t breath. She had never felt the force used on her before and she decided that she didn’t like it all that much. 

“Let her go!” Bow growled in front of her. 

“You’re not going to shoot,” the inquisitor laughed. “Not unless you’re fine with killing your friend.” 

“Bow,” Entrapta choked out. “I- pl- please,” ‘ _ Go. _ ’ 

“Don’t worry Entrapta,” Bow said. “I’m not leaving without you!” 

‘ _ Of course he’s not, _ ’ Entrapta thought. Bow had never left her, or anyone in the Best Friend Squad for that matter, behind. He had left his last family behind back on Mandalore, he wasn’t going to do that again. Unfortunately, he was about to break his streak. 

“I think not,” the inquisitor said. “Since your Jedi friend has escaped me once again, and your other friend’s recent prison break, you two won’t be leaving this Star Destroyer, unless it’s out the airlock.” 

“Bow,” Entrapta choked. 

“Save your strength, Entrapta,” Bow said. “I’m not leaving without you!” 

‘ _ I’m sorry, _ ’ Entrapta thought. She pulled out her blaster. “Yes- you are.” She shot the door controls. Immediately, the blast door shut in front of her. The inquisitor dropped her, leaving her gasping and sputtering on the ground. 

“That was a mistake,” the inquisitor growled. 

Suddenly, a stormtrooper captain followed by two columns of stormtroopers came running down the hallway. 

“It’s about time you showed up!” the inquisitor shouted. “What took you so long?” 

“Uh, I was getting these other troopers…?” the captain answered. 

“For all the good that’s going to do now,” the inquisitor said. She stabbed her lightsaber into the blaster door. “Both our prisoners are and the Jedi are getting away! All we have now is this Twi’lek, This couldn’t possibly have gone worse!” 

“Do- do you want me to take her to the prison block?” the captain asked. 

“Fine, I guess,” the inquisitor answered. “Just make sure you confiscate her weapons first.” 

Entrapta coughed one last time, her breath finally returning to her. One of the stormtroopers walked up to her and lifted her up off her knees. She tried to push him back, but the soldier didn’t even flinch and quickly put her hands into a pair of binders. Another stormtrooper came up and picked one of her blasters up off the ground and the other one out of its holster. 

Entrapta kicked the stormtrooper who was holding her blasters in the back of the knee. His leg crippled and he fell to the ground, Entrapta’s blasters flying out of his hands and clattering to the floor. She quickly picked up the blaster closest to her and held it in front of her, constantly changing who she was pointing it at. 

The inquisitor turned from the blast door, which she had now cut an entire semi-circle into and raised one of her hands. Entrapta’s blaster flew out her hands and the inquisitor crushed it when it reached her. “Stun her, you idiots!” she shouted. 

The captain raised her blaster and a blue light shot out of it. Entrapta’s vision dissolved into black as she fell to the ground.    


* * *

Catra walked back through the large hole she had cut into the blast door. “They got away!” she growled to Scorpia, who, for some reason, was still standing there. “I swear, everytime I think something’s going my way…” 

The room was silent for a few seconds. 

“Were- were you going to finish that sentence?” Scorpia asked. “Because it seemed like it was going somewhere.” 

“No, I wasn’t,” Catra sighed. “I just- I don’t know… I thought this time would be different. But, of course, I was wrong again! Adora always gets everything she wants, and I always end up with nothing! She’s so entitled!” 

“I feel like this might be about more than what’s happening now,” Scorpia said. “Do you need a minute?” 

Catra took a deep breath. “No, I’m fine,” she answered. “Let’s go interrogate the prisoner.”    


* * *

“She fucking  _ killed _ Entrapta?!” Adora shouted over the hologram. 

“Apparently, that’s what Bow said,” Glimmer replied. “He’s not taking it well, I think he feels responsible.” 

Bow had locked himself inside his room as soon as they had jumped to hyperspace. Mermista, Perfuma and Seahawk just kind of went silent after Bow had done that. Glimmer had been too shocked and too overwhelmed with trying to not get captured again to fully cry, though she had shed a few tears. 

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Adora said. “She did throw me in front of a firing squad.” 

“She did that?!” Glimmer shouted. “I thought you used to be friends.” 

“We were,” Adora responded. “But she’s fully embraced the darkside now, or, it at least appears that way.” 

“What do you mean by ‘it appears that way’?” Glimmer asked. 

“What?” Adora said. “Oh, nothing. Wishful thinking, I guess.” 

“I can’t imagine why you would want to think that she’s not evil at this point,” Glimmer replied. “Seems like a good way to get yourself killed.” 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Adora said sheepishly. It looked like something was eating at her. Entrapta’s apparent death, Glimmer guessed, but it seemed like something other than the murder of a friend. Something that was somehow both much less and much more distressing to Adora. 

“Listen, I should go check on Bow,” Glimmer said. “I’ll see you when we get back to Alderaan.” 

“Yeah, I’ll see you then,” Adora replied. 

Glimmer pressed a button and the call ended. She sighed and stood up from the co-pilot’s chair, she didn’t feel right sitting in it anyway, and Entrapta being dead didn’t make feel any better about it. 

Glimmer walked through the common space, past Perfuma, Seahawk and Mermista, to the locked door of Bow’s room. She lightly tapped on it with the back of her knuckle. “Bow?” she called. “I know you’re feeling bad, do you want to talk?” 

There was no response. 

“Bow, c’mon!” Glimmer said. “We’re all feeling bad, but sulking isn’t going to make you feel any better. Can we please talk?” 

The door suddenly slid open. Bow was standing there in full armor. “Yeah, we can talk,” he said. “But can we do it in here, please?” 

“Yeah, that sounds great.”    


* * *

“Are you sure you didn’t kill her?” Catra asked. Their new prisoner had been unconscious for about three hours, with no signs of that changing. She was currently lying on her side on the bench of one of the ship’s cells. “Because she looks pretty dead.” 

“No, I definitely stunned her,” Scorpia answered. “See? Look, she’s breathing.” She pointed at the Twi’lek’s stomach, which appeared to be slowly rising and falling, but Catra couldn’t tell if it wasn’t just because of the lack of light. 

“Hm… I still can’t tell,” Catra said. “Could you like… wake her up or something?” 

“I mean, I guess I could… haha,” Scorpia replied. “But I- uh.” 

“Wake her up,” Catra ordered. 

“Yes, commander,” Scorpia said. She walked over to the Twi’lek and tapped her head lightly several times. Nothing happened. Scorpia looked back over at Catra and shrugged. 

Catra slapped her face, or rather, her mask covering her face. “No, you idiot,” she said. “It’s going to take more than that. Shake her, or something, I don’t know.” 

Scorpia turned back to the prisoner and shook her, perhaps a little too violently because she immediately opened her eyes and sat up. “ _ AHHH! _ ” the Twi’lek screamed. 

Scorpia quickly backed off, holding up her hands in a defensive position. 

Catra ignited one blade of her lightsaber and pointed it at the prisoner. “Don’t try anything this time,” she said. 

“Okay, fine!” the Twi’lek squealed, holding up her hands. “Please, don’t hurt me!” 

“Cooperate, and I won’t have to,” Catra replied. She might’ve been laying on a little too thick, but for all she knew, this was a dangerous rebel operative, and one that had been sent along with a known Jedi to break two people out of  _ her _ cruiser. “Now, answer my questions.” 

“What do you want to know?” the Twi’lek asked. 

“Good, that’s what I like to see,” Catra said. “For starters, what is your name?” 

“Entrapta,” the Twi’lek replied instantly. 

“And how do I know that’s not a fake name?” Catra asked. 

“Hm… I suppose that’s a good point,” Entrapta said. “I don’t think there’s a way to prove that my name isn’t a fake one. You could look in the pre-imperial birth logs on Ryloth, I was born in-” 

“Alright, alright! I get it!” Catra interrupted. “I guess it doesn’t really matter,  _ Entrapta _ , seeing as you illegally boarded this Imperial star cruiser, you’re going to prison anyway. Now, what were you doing when you boarded this ship?” 

“Oh, I was helping Adora rescue Glimmer and Bow,” Entrapta answered. “She was the distraction, which I’m surprised you actually fell for.” 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Catra was glad she was wearing her mask to hide her blush. “There were others with you, who were they?” 

“Oh, I don’t remember their names,” Entrapta said. “There was this one girl who was really moody all the time and I don’t think she likes me all that much. The one guy had a silly mustache and was very enthusiastic all the time. I think they were dating, but I’m not really sure, I’m not that good with social queues. This last girl liked flowers, I think, and was very good with snipers, she also always had a very positive attitude.” 

“Ooh, I have a positive attitude!” Scorpia said excitedly. 

“Captain, please,” Catra groaned. “This is an interrogation, not a tea party.” 

“Sorry.” 

“Anyway,” Catra continued. “So I can’t get their names, can you at least tell me where you all made this plan?” 

“Uh… there were trees there… I think?” Entrapta answered nervously. “But I can tell you all the names of the droids and what they did! Would you like it in alphabetical order or in order of importance?” 

“Wh- how…?” Catra stammered. “Why did you memorize all of  _ that _ and not the name of the planet you were on?! You  _ think _ there were trees?! Well, that sure narrows it down! I guess we’ll have to check literally everywhere!” 

“Sorry!” Entrapta cried. “It just seemed more important at the time!” 

“ _ How _ did that seem more important?!” Catra shouted. “You know what? I don’t even care right now. I’m going to come back later and then we’ll see what happens. Captain, let’s go.” 

Catra and Scorpia walked out of the small cell and the door slammed shut behind them. 

“What are we going to do with her?” Catra asked. 

“I don’t know, but I like her energy!” Scorpia answered. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Catra said. “The rebels are likely going to think she’s dead, so we can’t use her as hostage bait. She seems very smart, but a bit too chaotic for my taste. Perhaps if we can get her to focus on one thing at a time, she might be quite useful.” 

“What do you mean?” Scorpia asked. 

“I  _ mean _ ,” Catra said. “She memorized all the functions of every droid at their base and you confiscated a bag of tools along with her blasters. She’s obviously some kind of mechanic or engineer, perhaps one that’s better than other Imperial scientists. This is an opportunity we  _ can’t _ afford to waste.”    


* * *

Glimmer walked into Bow’s room and he shut the door behind her. It was completely identical to the other four rooms on the freighter. A bed to the right with drawers underneath intended for clothes. A desk at the far end of the room with a swiveling chair and a display shelf above it and the bed. Overall, it was cramped, but there was enough room for both of them to sit. 

Bow flopped onto his bed wordlessly, taking up the entire space. 

Glimmer walked over to the spinning desk chair, sitting on it backwards and setting her arms on the backrest. “You wanna tell me about how you’re feeling?” she asked. 

“I don’t know,” Bow groaned in response. 

“You don’t know how you’re feeling or you don’t know if you want to tell me?” Glimmer asked. 

“Both,” Bow answered. “It’s not easy.” 

“It’s not supposed to be,” Glimmer said. “And I don’t think it’s ever going to be, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it a little better.” 

Bow took his helmet off and let it fall to the floor with a loud clanking sound. His cheeks had been coated in dried tears and his eyes were still watering. 

“You feel responsible, don’t you?” Glimmer asked. 

“How could I not?” Bow replied. He suddenly sat up. “She helped break us out of that jail cell, she helped me get back this armor,” he tapped his breastplate with his right hand. “And she sacrificed herself so I would survive. I could've saved her, I should've saved her.” 

“Bow, don’t take this the wrong way, but there’s nothing you could've done,” Glimmer said. “I know how good you are in a fight, but you couldn’t take on a Force-user, especially one with a lightsaber.” 

“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better,” Bow groaned. He let himself fall back onto the bed. 

“Sorry!” Glimmer said. “But how was I supposed to say it?” 

“Maybe you could’ve not,” Bow answered. 

The room went quiet for a few minutes. 

“Hey,” Glimmer spoke up after what felt like forever. “Remember how we were supposed to get that one guy’s review back to Dryden? Look how that turned out!” 

Bow chuckled slightly. “I think his name was Visago,” he said. “And I’m glad we’re not going back to Dryden, I’m done with spice running.” 

“Me too,” Glimmer agreed. “If we’re going to get imprisoned for it anyway, we might as well make it official.” 

“Let’s do it then,” Bow sat up. 

“Wait, what?” Glimmer asked. 

“Let’s do it,” Bow repeated. “Think about it, Dryden needs us more than we need him, right? So what’s in it for us if we go back to Crimson Dawn? It wasn’t that great when we were with them and it certainly won’t be without, well… her.” Bow focus suddenly shifted to the floor. “Let’s join the rebellion. It wouldn’t be that much different from what we’ve done before, and we could actually be proud of it. What do you say?” 

“I knew I could cheer you up,” Glimmer lightly punched Bow’s shoulder. “Let’s do it. But should we go see what Adora thinks?” 

Bow stood up. “Oh, I’m sure she’ll join too,” he answered. He picked his helmet up off the floor and put it back on. “And thanks, I guess I did need to talk it out. But… this doesn’t mean I can forget what happened.” 

“I don’t expect you to,” Glimmer said. “We need to take our time with this, okay?. Whatever doesn’t kill you…?” 

“Makes you stronger,” Bow finished. “Alright, let’s go back out.”    


* * *

“You have a nice office,” Entrapta said. Her eyes were darting all around the clean, polished surfaces of Catra’s office. Catra had never thought it to be particularly nice, there were much more just like it on the ship and on thousands of identical Star Destroyers across the galaxy, but she did find the compliment nice. 

“While I do appreciate that,” Catra replied. “I didn’t didn’t bring you to my office to compliment it. No, I actually have an offer for you.” 

“An offer? For me?” Entrapta asked. “I thought I was a prisoner.” 

“Fair point,” Catra said. She raised her hand and the binders unlatched themselves from Entrapta’s wrists, they flew up into the air and were crushed when she closed her fist. “You seem smart.” Catra paused and guestered for Entrapta’s opinion of her assessment. 

“I mean… I would consider myself to be,” Entrapta blushed. She scratched the back of her head behind her lekku. “But not a lot of people don’t seem to agree with me.” 

“You memorized all of the functions of all of the droids at your base,” Catra said. “I think that’s pretty smart.” She could see Entrapta blushing even harder. “Anyway, I was going to offer you a chance to put those smarts of yours to a better, more  _ legal _ use.” Catra had never been one to care about legality, but her current position required her to at least pretend like she did. “How would you like to be an engineer on this ship? You seem… incredibly qualified.” 

“Y- you’re offering me a job?” Entrapta asked. “As an engineer? As an engineer on a star cruiser?” 

“Uh… yeah?” Catra answered. “Did you not listen to anything I just said?” 

“I’ve always wanted to be an engineer on a star cruiser!” Entrapta stood up onto the chair. “Who knew all I’d have to do was get captured? I should’ve done this a long time ago!” 

“Hey, hey!” Catra called. “Sit down! I haven’t explained everything yet!” 

“Sorry,” Entrapta situated herself back into the chair. “Please, continue.” 

“Anyway,” Catra continued. “You would no longer be a prisoner, but you would be under my direct supervision anytime I request. And I want constant updates on  _ everything _ , don’t do anything without my approval.” 

“I accept!” Entrapta stuck out her right hand. 

Catra hesitated for a moment. She slowly extended her arm and shook Entrapta’s. “Good,” she smiled behind her mask. “I have a feeling this is going to be great for us.”    


* * *

“Ugh, it’s about time you showed up,” Mermista groaned as Adora walked into the commonspace on Darla. “I’ve been waiting forever.” 

“Hey, what was I supposed to do, make my ship go faster than lightspeed?” Adora asked. “You do realize that that would be impossible, right?” 

“Ugh, whatever,” Mermista said. 

Adora felt something bump into the back of her legs hard. She turned around to find Swiftwind repeatedly headbutting her upper legs. “Hey, hey, Swifty!” Adora called. “What are you going?” 

“ _ There’s something wrong with that green astromech back inside, _ ” Swiftwind answered. 

“What green a-  _ oh shit! _ Emily!” Adora shouted. “Bow! Glimmer! We forgot about Emily!” 

“Oh fuck! Entrapta’s astromech?” Glimmer asked. 

“Language,” Bow said wearily. 

“Oh shut up!” Glimmer replied. “We gotta fix this!” 

“Seriously?” Mermista called. “I  _ just _ wanted to get this meeting started!” 

“Darling, let them go,” Seahawk put a hand on Mermista’s shoulder. “It’ll only be ten minutes.”

“Sorry, and thanks, Seahawk,” Adora said. 

“No problem,” he replied. 

Adora nodded. She, Glimmer and Bow ran out of the freighter and to the aerial command tower. Emily was thrashing around in a storage room and beeping wildly. Several crates had been strewn across the floor, preventing the Best Friend Squad from getting to the distressed droid. 

“Emily!” Bow called. “It’s okay, we’re here!” 

Emily stopped for a second, as if they were considering what Bow was saying, and then immediately went back to what they were doing. Bow let out an exaggerated sigh. 

“This is  _ Entrapta’s _ droid,” Glimmer said. “I don’t think any of us have gotten it to do anything before, only her.” 

“So we just let Emily run amok around this station?” Adora asked. “I don’t think so. We have to do something.” 

“Well what  _ can _ we do?” Glimmer retorted. “Look around, Adora, that droid is not going to calm down. The best thing we can do is disable it, or at least get a restraining bolt on it.” 

“I would be the ultimate insult to Entrapta’s memory to put a  _ restraining bolt _ on her droid!” Adora shouted. “Let alone disable it!” 

“Both of you, shut up!” Bow shouted. Adora and Glimmer stopped and stared at him. Bow was not one to get angry, and even when he did, he never shouted ‘shut up’ at his best friends. However, this was a particularly unusual situation to begin with and Bow didn’t seem to be going in with the best state of mind. 

“Uh, Bow?” Adora asked. 

“I said shut up,” Bow said. “Since clearly all you two want to do it bicker, I’ll handle this myself.” He hoisted himself on top of one of the large crates blocking the past to Emily and shimmied himself through a pile of them to the distressed droid. 

As Bow approached Emily, they opened one of their compartments and stuck an electrostatic taser out of it. Yellow-green electricity crackled on the end of the pronged device. 

“Woah, woah,” Bow said. “Put that away, I just want to talk.” 

Emily did not comply. 

“Have it your way,” Bow said. “Look, I’m sorry. This sucks, it seems like everything sucks right now, and that's totally fine. Change is hard sometimes, but resisting it only makes it worse. Sometimes all you have is your person, and I’m sorry we lost yours. I’m so sorry that we lost Entrapta, Emily, but there’s nothing we can do about it now. All we can do is find the strength to keep going, even if the problem will never go away.” 

Emily retracted the taser and closed its compartment. They rolled over to Bow and he wrapped them in a hug. They beeped something incomprehensible to Bow, but he thought he understood. 

“Yeah, let’s go back out.”    


* * *

Adora, Bow and Glimmer, followed now by Emily, walked back onboard Darla to the commonspace where Mermista thankfully hadn’t  _ entirely _ lost her cool yet. 

“Holy shit, it’s about time,” she groaned. 

“We were gone for less than ten minutes!” Bow said. 

“Yeah, ten minutes where we could’ve done my briefing and have finished it already,” Mermista replied. 

“Well, we’re here now, what have you got?” Adora asked. 

Mermista took a miniature holoprojector out of her pocket and placed it on the ground in front of them. A large display of a planet appeared, being orbited by twelve moons. “This is the planet we’re going to focus on next,” Mermista explained. “Etheria.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 18. So... Etheria's happening, so that's pretty cool. Nothing else interesting happened, nothing at all.  
> I live for the comments, so please, leave some feedback on here.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles related to the chapter (if you want to):  
> [ Ryloth ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Ryloth)  
> [ Restraining Bolt ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Restraining_bolt)


	19. The Senate Building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The focus of the growing band of  
> rebels has shifted to the planet  
> Etheria, home planet of Princess  
> Glimmer....

“This is the planet we’re going to focus on next,” Mermista explained. “Etheria.” 

“Wait,  _ Etheria _ ?” Glimmer asked. “As in my- uh,  _ our _ home planet?” 

“That’s the one,” Mermista said. “Do you know of any other Etherias?”

“Fair enough,” Glimmer grumbled.

“Anyway,” Mermista continued. “I tell you everything now, that’s for the meeting on the way there, but I’d thought I’d give you a heads-up,  _ your majesty _ .” She did an exaggerated bow. “We leave in two days, bring whatever weapons you want, it really doesn’t matter. Oh, and one more thing…” 

“...yes?” Bow asked. 

“Make sure to look like refugees,” Mermista finished. She scooped up the holoprojector off the ground and the display vanished. She guestered to Seahawk and the both walked off the ship. 

“Wait, that’s all we’re going to get?” Glimmer called. 

“I told you,” Mermsita turned back to face her. “I’ll explain everything on the way there, nobody else knows this except the Senator.”    


* * *

Being an engineer on an Imperial Star Destroyer was not exactly what Entrapta had expected. Sure, she did a lot of mechanical repairs and such, but that was mostly overseeing the other engineers and giving reports to the inquisitor. The only times when she actually fixed something herself was when nobody else could do it, or whenever someone needed to fit into a tight space. But emergencies happened often enough that she got to fix something several times a week. As a result, she became very familiar with the design of the weapons, the ships, and the ventilation systems on the cruiser. 

“…And finally, the last ship experienced power loss in the left wing, causing motor control issues and the navigational systems to go haywire,” Entrapta finished. 

“Good work,” the inquisitor said. She set the shit data pad she was holding onto her desk. “You’re dismissed, I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Thank you,” Entrapta gave a slight bow, then turned and left the room. She distracted herself by analyzing new data on her pad while she walked down the hallway, until she walked directly into Scorpia, knocking her to the ground. 

“Oof! Oh, I’m sorry,” Entrapta said, rubbing her head. 

“No, it’s my fault,” Scorpia replied. She reached out her hand, Entrapta grabbed it and she dragged her back up. “I really should’ve been looking down, haha. Actually, I was looking for you.” 

“Really?” Entrapta asked. She bent over and picked up the datapad she dropped. “What do you need me for?” 

“I think my blaster’s broken,” Scorpia explained. “Look.” She held up the weapon and pointed it at another stormtrooper coming down the hallway toward them. The trooper held his hands up and slowly started to back up. Scorpia pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. “See?” 

The stormtrooper down the hall put a hand to his chest and let out a sigh of relief. 

Entrapta took the blaster out of Scopria’s hand. She examined it, looking down the barrel, fiddling with the trigger, even hitting it against the wall several times. “Nothing seems to be wrong,” she said. “Did you just forget to reload it?” 

“Oh, right!” Scorpia exclaimed. She dropped the ammunition cartridge out of her blaster and popped in a new one from her utility belt. “I always forget to do this, thanks!” She patted Entrapta on the shoulder and walked off down the hallway. 

Entrapta watched her go, then when she was gone, turned and picked up the empty ammunition cartridge off the ground. ‘ _ I might be able to use this, _ ’ she thought and walked off to her quarters.    


* * *

Adora, Glimmer and Bow, followed by Swiftwind and Emily, walked up to the  _ Tantive IV _ with full packs on their backs. Bow was still wearing his armor, but he had thrown a robe over it. It made him look normal enough if you didn’t stare too long, and he had stored his helmet in his pack to conceal it. They had stored their blasters inside the numerous compartments on the two astromechs, even Bow’s rifle, which could thankfully disassemble. Adora had opted to still carry her lightsaber, mostly just as a precaution, people wouldn’t see it as a weapon until she used it. 

On the landing platform, they met up with Perfuma, Seahawk, and another shorter rebel with short, navy blue hair and was wearing a thick blue overcoat. 

“Mermsita’s finally letting me bring my flamethrower!” Seahawk shouted. 

“How are you going to sneak that through?” Bow asked. 

“That, my friend, is a closely kept secret,” Seahawk answered slyly. 

“He means to say that he has no idea,” the other rebel said. “Mermista has all of his weapons. I’m Frosta, by the way. I was at Lothal, but I didn’t talk to you guys then.” She extended her hand, a gesture for them to shake it. 

“Nice to meet you, Frosta,” Adora shook her hand. “I’m Adora, this is Glimmer and Bow.” 

“You’re not hiding your armor very well, Bow,” Frosta looked over Adora’s shoulder. 

“Hey, well, it’s only supposed to get us through,” Bow said sheepishly. 

Adora glanced at Perfuma’s waist and again noticed the thin, metal cylinder, and this time, she got a good look at it. The design was intricate, and a metallic floral pattern covered the entire thing. Adora was almost jealous. 

“Hey! Are you six ever going to get on?” Mermista called from the ramp. “We’re all waiting on you, let’s go!” 

“Coming dear!” Seahawk called back. He rushed up the ramp and onto the ship, Adora, Glimmer, Bow, Perfuma and Frost followed. They walked to the large, circular meeting room, at the center of which, was a large holoprojector. Adora, Bow and Glimmer took seats on the higher rows of benches while Seahawk, Perfuma and Frosta took theirs on the lower rows. 

A few minutes later, the door slid open and Mermista walked in. 

“Alright people, listen up!” she called to the room. Everyone immediately stopped chatting, or checking datapads, or whatever else they were doing and focussed on her. 

“I’ve just spoken with the Senator,” Mermsita continued. “He says that everything is going smoothly, and we should have no trouble once we land on Coruscant.” 

“I thought she said we were going to Etheria,” Adora whispered to Bow and Glimmer. 

“Be quiet,” Bow whispered back. “She’s probably going to explain.” 

“As some of you already know,” Mermsita said. “Our next mission is to the planet Etheria, the planet where most of the people in this room are from.” Adora noticed several people in the room perk up as Mermista spoke, including Seahawk, Perfuma and Frosta. Mermista walked up to the holoprojector and turned it on. The same display of Etheria Mermista had shown Adora, Glimmer and Bow earlier and a display of Coruscant appeared. “We will be landing at the Imperial Senate House on Coruscant.” 

A few gasps came from the people in the room, including Bow. Adora heard someone say “Are you crazy?” 

“Quiet!” Mermista shouted. “ _ As I was saying _ , we will be landing at the Senate Building, but we can get transport from there directly to Etheria. There are still a few refugee lines still running from the time of the Republic, the one to Etheria is thankfully still up and running, but for long remains to be seen. This is why we need to do this as quickly as possible, we can’t have any interruptions. It also only runs once a week and we definitely don’t want to get stuck on Coruscant for any period of time.” 

The atmosphere in the room lightened up somewhat at her words. 

“We’ll need to take the public transport so it can’t be traced back to Senator Organa,” Mermista explained. “If any of this gets traced back to him, we’ll lose our biggest provider of ships and weapons. And maybe also because he’ll probably get executed, but that’s less important. Once on Etheria, we’ll find and set up a base, and then we can get the next part of the plan underway.” 

“Uh, what’s the next part?” Bow raised his hand. 

“We can’t risk the information getting out if any of you get captured,” Mermista answered. “I’m not taking any precautions.” 

“But… what if you get captured?” Bow asked. 

Mermista sent a long, piercing glare at the Mandalorian. “I. Don’t. Get. Captured.” she growled. Bow backed down. “Anyway, does anyone have any not stupid questions?” 

Nobody spoke up. 

“Alright then!” Mermista clapped her hands. “We’ll reconvene once we get close to Coruscant. Dismissed!” she walked back out of the room. Most people got out of their seats and followed her. Adora, Bow and Glimmer stayed in their seats. 

Adora noticed Glimmer looking more distressed than usual. “Hey, are you doing okay?” she asked. 

“Ugh, who knows,” Glimmer groaned. She slumped onto the bench. “I thought I would be more excited about going home, but I guess not!” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Bow asked. “I know talking to you helped me.” 

“Uh… no,” Glimmer answered. “I’ll probably feel better after I shoot a bunch of stormtroopers.” 

“Well, Mermista said we’re going to be doing stealth-mode for a while,” Adora said. “So I don’t know when the next time you’re going to do  _ that _ is.” 

“Not helping!” Glimmer shouted. She slammed her fist onto the bench. “Ugh, I already said I don’t want to talk about it!” She got up and stormed out of the room. 

“I’m worried about her,” Bow said. 

Adora laid a hand on his shoulder. “You didn’t have to say it,” she replied. “You might want to keep her within arm’s reach on Coruscant, I have a feeling she’s going to do something stupid.” 

“You’re probably right,” Bow admitted. “You have your ‘Jedi powers’ and all” 

“Bow!” Adora whispered. “We’re in a room full of people! You can’t just go around saying stuff like that!” 

“Sorry!” Bow said. 

“What are you two talking about?” Frosta asked, appearing out of nowhere. 

“Ah!” Adora and Bow both shouted at the same time. 

“Uh, nothing,” Adora answered sheepishly. “We’re just worried about Glimmer, is all.” 

“It didn’t sound like that,” Frosta said. “It sounded like you said Adora had J-”

“Frosta, shouldn’t you get going?” Perfuma asked, coming up behind her. 

“Ugh, you’re not my mom!” Frosta groaned. 

“Ever since you ran away from your parents to join the Rebellion, someone has to act like them,” Perfuma replied. “The Force knows Mermsita’s not doing it.” 

“Whatever,” Frosta said, and stomped off out of the room. 

“You’re welcome,” Perfuma winked at Adora once Frosta had left, then she also turned and walked out. 

“What was that supposed to mean?” Bow asked. 

“Perfuma has a lightsaber on her belt,” Adora smiled. “It appears I’m not alone on this ship.”    


* * *

Entrapta flicked on the lightswitch of her small quarters on the Star Destroyer. 

The room was extremely simplistic, much like everything else on the ship. Just a bed and a personal refresher. Fortunately, Entratpa had been able to spruce it up a little. She had brought in several crates full of tech scraps. She had made a makeshift workbench where she had been working with the unfamiliar technology of the Empire’ military for the past two weeks. 

Entrapta tossed the empty ammunition cartridge onto one of the already overflowing crates and sat at her workbench to continue on her latest experiment. The arm had been functioning perfectly, except for the fact that she couldn’t get the blasters to integrate properly into the wrists. 

“C’mon!” Entrapta scolded herself. “The CIS had billions of droids like this and you can’t make one! How did they do it? What am I missing? What secret knowledge did they have that I don’t?” 

“You seemed stressed.” 

Entrapta turned around in her seat. The inquisitor, still wearing her mask, was leaning against the doorway, somehow, she had managed to open it without Entrapta noticing. 

“Sorry, did I scare you?” the inquisitor laughed, though it didn’t seem to be out of any sort of concern. It felt like a taunt more than anything else, and even Entrapta could feel it. 

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Entrapta said brightly. “I tend to get  _ really _ focused when I work on a pet project.” 

“Oh really?” the inquisitor asked. “And what kind of project is that?” 

“Oh, it’s still entirely hypothetical at this point,” Entrapta answered. “I can show what I’ve got so far if you want.” 

“Alright, I might be interested,” the inquisitor admitted. She walked over to Entrapta’s desk. 

“I’m trying to create a droid like the B2 units back in the Clone Wars,” Entrapta explained. “Specifically the blasters as a part of the wrists, that’s what I find the most interesting.” 

“Why the interest?” the inquisitor asked. “If I remember correctly, the Separatists lost the war, and all of the droids, including the B2s, were shut down.” 

“And if  _ I _ remember correctly,” Entrapta said. “The B2s were one of the most effective units in the Confederacy’s ranks. I know a single one could tear through an entire regiment of clones.” 

The inquisitor looked slightly taken aback, Entrapta wasn’t sure if it was because of what she was saying, or the tone in which she was saying it. She often found people didn’t share her enthusiasm for killer robots or weapons of mass destruction. 

“So you’re seeing if you can recreate or improve upon the Separatists’ design?” the inquisitor asked. 

“Pretty much!” Entrapta answered brightly. “Though I haven’t had much success integrating the weapons into the arm. But it’s really just a personal project, I’m not that attached to it.” 

“Wait,” the inquisitor said. “If the B2s were really as effective as you say, I want you to spend as much time as possible on this. We could have the ultimate super-soldier on our hands here, I don’t want to throw away that chance. If you need anything for this, just ask, I’d be happy to get it for you.” 

“Really?” Thanks commander!” Entrapta cheered. She gave the inquisitor a crushing hug. 

“It’s really not a problem,” the inquisitor said between breaths. “And you can call me Catra, just not when anyone but Scorpia is around. Please, let me go.” 

“Sorry,” Entrapta suddenly let go of Catra. “I’ll be sure to let you know if I need anything.” 

“Why do I have the feeling this is going to be the death of me?” Catra muttered.    


* * *

The  _ Tantive IV _ landed smoothly at the Senate building on Coruscant. Senator Organa exited the ship with a few personal guards, leaving the majority of its occupants still in the ship. Unfortunately, there appeared to be several stormtroopers still on the landing platform, making the current operation much more difficult. 

“I guess I should’ve prepared for this,” Mermista said to the room. “We’ll have to sneak off the platform somehow.” 

“I have an idea,” Adora and Perfuma said at the same time. 

“Alright, one at a time,” Mermista huffed. “Flower girl, you first.” 

“I was going to say that I could make a distraction and let the rest of you sneak by,” Perfuma explained. 

“And how do you plan on getting yourself out?” Mermista asked. 

“I, uh… I’m just… you’ll see,” Perfuma answered. 

Mermista sighed. “Alright, what’s your plan, blondie?”

“Uh, I was going to say the same thing,” Adora said sheepishly. 

“Ugh, alright,” Mermista groaned. “You two can do your little suicide mission, and we’ll go off to another planet and not die.”    


* * *

Adora and Perfuma crept down the ship’s ramp. It was night. Adora could see all of the lights of the city sprawl, and it was an odd kind of beautiful. The landing pad wasn’t built exactly in the traditional sense. It was like a section had been cut out of the massive domed building. Several other personal ships of senators were parked here. Adora could see that only a few stormtroopers were out on the platform, but it was enough that sneaking about thirty or forty people past them would’ve been impossible. 

“Hm, that’s an intricate design on that trinket you got there,” Adora said. 

“Glad you noticed,” Perfuma replied. “I see yours is simpler, I kind of like it.” 

“Where’d you find it?” Adora asked. 

“I made it,” Perfuma answered. “When I was twelve. What about yours?”

“The same,” Adora said. “It’s weird that we've never met before.” 

“Perhaps,” Perfuma replied. “Are we going to make this distraction, or…” 

“Oh, right!” Adora said. “Haha, I almost forgot.” 

Adora and Perfuma crept across the platform, past three ships, to where two stormtroopers were standing. 

“Hey! What the-?” one of them shouted. 

Adora extended her arm and used the Force to push both of them off the edge of the platform. A group of stormtroopers on the other side of the platform, one of them being a captain, take notice of two of their comrades suddenly flying off the edge of the building and both Adora and Perfuma. 

“Hey! Get those two!” the captain shouted, pointing to where Adora and Perfuma were standing. The stormtroopers started firing and they ducked behind one of the Senator’s ships. “Alright, we have them pinned. Move in!” 

The stormtroopers began slowly walking towards the ship which Adora and Perfuma were hiding behind, still firing their blasters. 

Perfuma pressed a finger to her ear. “I understand,” she nodded. “No, keep going. We’ll meet up with you later, just make sure you hold the transport up long enough for us to get on.” She paused. “Alright then, we’ll be quick.” 

“What was that?” Adora asked. 

“Our distraction worked,” Perfuma answered. “And Mermista promised to not hold the transport up for us, so we’d better hurry.” 

“Well, if they got away,” Adora said. She grabbed her lightsaber off her belt. “They won’t see us do  _ this. _ ” She ignited it, the green blade lighting up both of their faces. 

Perfuma also ignited her lightsaber, and its blade was also green. 

“What the fuck?” one of the stormtroopers shouted. 

“They’re Jedi!” another said. 

Adora and Perfuma quickly sliced through the stormtroopers who had gotten close enough to the ship they were hiding behind. The only one remaining was the captain. 

“Stay back or I’ll shoot!” the captain shouted, pointing his blaster with shaking hands at Adora and Perfuma. 

Adora stood up straight from her combat stance and retracted her lightsaber. He lifted it and waved it in front of the captain’s face. “You won’t shoot us,” she commanded. 

“I- I won’t shoot you,” the captain repeated. He hostered his blaster. 

“Uh, Adora?’ Perfuma asked. “What are you doing.” 

“Did you not learn how to do this?” Adora said. 

“I guess I didn’t,” Perfuma scratched the back of her head. 

Adora turned back to the captain. “There were no Jedi here,” she waved her hand again. 

“There were no Jedi here,” the captain repeated. 

“You managed to drive away the attackers,” Adora said. “You are a hero.” 

“I managed to drive away the attackers,” the captain beamed. “I’m a hero.” 

“That should be enough,” Adora muttered. “Let’s get to that transport before Mermista leaves us behind.”    


* * *

Commander Briggains marched to his office, escorted by two stormtroopers, to determine what exactly occurred on that landing platform. He opened the door to his office, finding the only guard on duty to have survived sitting in front of his desk: the captain. 

“Greetings, captain,” Briggains said. “I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.” He walked over and took a seat behind his desk. 

“Hello, commander- uh, sir,” the captain replied shakily. 

“You seem nervous, captain,” Briggains pointed out. “There’s no need to be, I can promise you that you won’t be in any trouble after this.” 

“Oh! Okay, thank you, sir,” the captain eased up a little. 

“Now, tell me, captain,” Briggains ordered. “What exactly happened on landing platform H this evening?” 

“Well… uh,” the captain hesitated. “There were two perpetrators. They threw two of my men off the edge and shot down the rest. I fought them, but they escaped. They didn’t steal or damage anything.” 

“You said that they shot down your men,” Briggains said. “But their bodies had burning streaks on them, not small dots like blaster wounds.” 

“That’s what I remember!” the captain replied with a hint of panic in his voice. “They shot down my men.” 

“The marks are identical to that of lightsaber marks,” Briggains said sharply. “Are you sure you don’t want to change your answer?” 

“I’m not lying!” the captain shouted. “And I’m not crazy! They  _ shot down _ my men! That’s what happened! There weren’t any Jedi there!” 

“You fool!” Briggains suddenly stood up. “They did some sort of mind control on you! I’ve heard the stories! Sergeant! Alert the head of security that we have two Jedi on the premises!”    


* * *

Mermista led her small army through the halls of the Senate Building. The sight of thirty to forty people dressed as refugees in the house of the Imperial Senate should have been odd, but none of the Imperial Guards of Shock Troopers had stopped them yet. Large groups were not that all uncommon here, due to the abundance of poor petitioners. Protesting was definitely illegal, but coming to the Senate with a petition, while fundamentally useless, as even if the Senate does pass it, the Emperor will just shut it down, wasn’t exactly discouraged. 

The petitioners were exactly what the plan hinged on. They came from all across the galaxy, not just Coruscant, and a direct line to the Senate building was exactly what Mermista needed. Since no one would expect an Imperial senator to harbor rebels on their ship, smuggling themselves offworld wouldn’t require that much sneaking. 

Unfortunately, most of the lines had been closed down due to suspected terrorism, but those were to systems which had been showing signs of rebellion. Etheria, even though it had been a part of the Serperatist Alliance, had pretty much all of its dissonance swiftly crushed and it had been long enough that the Empire felt safe letting its citizens petition again. 

“Alright slackers, hurry up!” Mermista called to the group. “We’re almost there!” 

Mermista noticed that up ahead, a Shock Trooper walking up to two Imperial Guards standing in front of an ornate doorway. “We’re getting word of two fugitive Jedi on the premises,” he said. “Make sure to check IDs,” he looked over at Mermista and the other rebels. “Even the refugees and petitioners, don’t let them fall through the cracks.” 

“Yes sir,” the guards replied in unison. 

‘ _ Two Jedi? _ ’ Mermista thought. ‘ _ Great timing for a fucking terrorist attack, this might ruin this whole operation. I hope Blondie and Flower Girl didn’t run into them. _ ’ 

Mermist walked a few more meters before the Imperial Guards walked out from their doorway and stopped her. 

“Halt,” one of them commanded. “We need to see some identification.” 

Mermista didn’t have any form of ID on her, none of them did. There was only one thing Mermista could do, though she’d sworn never to lower herself to that again. She dropped to her knees. 

“Please, good sirs!” she cried out, large, fake tears streaming down her face. “We are but poor refugees from Etheria. We thought we could bring a petition to our fair senate to make our lives better, but we were shut down. We are so poor that we cannot afford any IDs, and it was all it took just to get ourselves here in the first place! Please, good sirs! I beg you to let us go home! Our families are waiting for our safe return and they will starve without us!” 

“Oh! I- uh…” the guards were taken aback. 

“Uh, I guess we can let you back to your families,” one of the guards said. “Go straight to the platform and don’t cause any trouble.” 

Mermista stood up and desperately grabbed the guard’s hand. “Thank you so much,” she cried. “I promise you won’t regret this!”

“Alright then,” Seahawk said rather brightly. “Let’s keep moving!” He and Mermista led the group to the landing platform where the refugee lines were. 

“Uh, what was that back there?” Bow asked Mermista. 

“Something you will  _ never see again, _ ” Mermista answered aggressively. “I only did it so we could get past those guards. And if you can’t tell we’re on a time crunch, so stop asking me stupid questions.” 

“Okay then…” Bow took a few steps back and stumbled over Emily. “Agh! Emily!” 

Mermista laughed and turned to walk to the ship headed for Etheria. 

Glimmer grabbed Bow’s arm before he could fall all the way over. “Don’t break the droid storing our blasters, idiot,” she said. 

“Thanks,” Bow replied, blushing. 

“Well, we better get to the ship,” Glimmer nodded at their group which had walked past them. “Mermista said she’s not holding it up for anyone.” She yanked Bow back to proper balance. They ran to catch up to their group, which had reached the ship and boarded it. 

“I hope Adora and Perfuma make it in time,” Bow said as he crossed the threshold into the seating area. “I hope they’re alright.” 

“Relax, they’ll be fine,” Glimmer replied. “Besides, Adora’s got the goods, if you know what a I mean.” She bumped Bow with her elbow several times. 

“There were so many ways you could have phrased that better,” Bow sighed. “But you are right, Adora does have a distinct advantage.” 

Just then, the intercom crackled on. “Attention passengers,” came a voice. “This is the captain speaking. We will be departing for Etheria in ten minutes, I repeat, ten minutes. Please do not leave the ship.” 

At this news, Bow began to look even more worried. 

Oh, come on!” Glimmer punched Bow’s shoulder, apparently forgetting that he was wearing beskar armor underneath his cloak. “Agh!” she whisper-screamed. “Why?!” She shook her injured hand violently. “Anyway, let’s take a seat before you worry yourself to death.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Bow smiled. “I’m feeling much better already.” 

“Oh, ha ha,” Glimmer said angrily. “Just take a seat.” She shoved both her and Bow into two seats facing the ones Seahawk and Mermista were sitting in. 

“Hey guys!” Seahawk waved, beaming. 

“Save your smiles until we’re off this damn planet,” Mermista groaned. “This place is crawling with bucketheads and I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to. And where the hell are Blondie and Flower Girl?”    


* * *

“I told you this was a bad idea!” Adora shouted down to Perfuma. She was holding herself onto the sleek dome of the Senate Building, Perfuma a few meters below her. They were each taking turns throwing each other with the Force up the side of the building in order to reach the landing platform faster. 

“This was  _ your _ idea!” Perfuma yelled back. “Now throw me up, just a few more meters to go!” 

Adora lowered her left arm, concentrating all of her energy on Perfuma. She grunted, swinging her arm around and causing Perfuma to go flying past her, landing a few meters above her, and just a few meters from the platform. 

“Are you sure this is even the right platform?” Adora asked. 

“I have faith we were right,” Perfuma answered. She threw Adora up, who landed right on the edge of the platform stomach first. 

“Oof!” she cried. She looked up in somewhat of a haze to examine her surroundings. There were several crates in front of her, but she could see most of the platform clearly. Particularly, she noticed a Black man in a thick cloak nearly trip over a green astromech, only to be caught at the last second by a short, pink-haired woman. ‘ _ Bow and Glimmer. _ ’

“This is the right one!” Adora called down to Perfuma. She pulled her up to her level with the Force. 

“How can you be sure?” Perfuma asked. 

“Bow and Glimmer,” Adora pointed over to them. “And there’s Seahawk and Mermista.” She shifted her arm to point at a mustachioed man and a blue-haired woman who boarded a large passenger ship, followed by a large group of cloaked figures who Bow and Glimmer also ran over to. “We’ve got our platform, and we’ve got our ship!” She began to lift herself fully onto the platform. 

“Wait,” Perfuma put a hand on her shoulder. 

“What?” Adora asked, stopping herself. 

“We don’t exactly have an easy way to get over there,” Perfuma said. “This place is crawling with stormtroopers and would look really suspicious if two people came crawling up through  _ this _ entrance. Not to mention that we can’t defend ourselves without relieving our identities.” 

“So I’ll get us an escort,” Adora replied. 

“A what?!”   


* * *

Two minutes later, after Adora had sufficiently mind tricked a lone stormtrooper and convinced him to lead her and Perfuma to the ship headed for Etheria, she was feeling rather confident. Perfuma was impressed with her, obviously, and Adora had promised to teach the technique to her after they had landed on Etheria. Though Perfuma wasn’t as excited as Adora thought she would be about it. 

“I still think that it’s extremely overpowered,” Perfuma said. “And it’s extremely inconsiderate.” 

“They’re  _ stormtroopers, _ ” Adora replied. “Y’know, the symbol of the Empire’s iron grip on the galaxy, feared on all systems unfortunate enough to have their boots on its soil. Plus, it’s not like I’m actually hurting him.” 

“You don’t know that,” Perfuma huffed. “And even if you weren’t, the ability to surpass another person’s will is no different from making someone do something under the threat of brutality. It’s no different than the Empire’s tactics.” 

Adora felt genuinely hurt. “I’m using it  _ against _ the Empire,” she said. “That’s how it’s different.” 

“If that’s what you think,” Perfuma began. “Then don’t teach it to me.” 

“Fine, if that’s what you want!”

“It is!” 

“Fine!”

“Fine!” 

“Ladies,” the stormtrooper said. “This is your ship.” 

“Uh, thanks,” Adora replied awkwardly. She and Perfuma walked in. 

They walked through a few through sets of doorways before Adora noticed Glimmer and Bow. 

“Hey!” she called. 

“Oh, hey!” Bow looked up. 

Adora ran over and took a seat right next to them. 

Perfuma slowly walked over and took a seat next to Mermista and Seahawk, glaring daggers at Adora the entire time. 

“What was that about?” Bow asked. 

“Let’s… let’s not talk about it,” Adora replied hastily. 

“Attention everyone,” a voice came on over the loudspeaker. “This is your captain speaking. We will be leaving in five minutes, I repeat, five minutes. Please do not leave the ship.” 

“Oh, thank the Force,” Mermista groaned. “We are  _ finally _ getting out of here.” 

“Wait, hold on,” the captain said. “It appears that we are being held up for an inspection. There have been reports of two Jedi terrorists, and we will be having some stormtroopers coming on board to make sure they aren’t hiding here. I’m sure we’ll be on our way soon!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> I hope you enjoyed chapter 19. Sorry it was a day late, I spent all of last week rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood for no reason and that really threw me off my writing schedule. I'll try to be on time for next week, but no promises.  
> Anway, take all of the worldbuilding about the Senate Building with about an ocean's worth of salt, because I basically just made up a ton of shit, sorry. The Imperial Guards and Shocktroopers and landing platforms stuff are canon, but nothing else is, except for maybe the refugee ships. That scene in Attack of the Clones is confusing.  
> I live for the comments, so please, leave some feedback on here.  
> [ Check out my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/theartificer4). I don't post there often, but it's a way to find chapter updates.  
> As always, shoutout to my friend for helping me edit this.  
> Here are some Wookieepedia articles related to the chapter (if you want to):  
> [ B2 Super Battle Droid ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/B2-series_super_battle_droid)  
> [ Senate Building ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Galactic_Senate_Building)  
> [ Imperial Guards ](https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Emperor%27s_Royal_Guard)  
> If any of you are any of my 13 followers on Reddit, please don't, just... don't, please?


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